CHENNAI: Four special teams have been formed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) police to nab accused and trace funds in cases booked against three financial institutions Aarudhra Gold Trading Private Limited, Elfin-e-com Private Limited and LNS International Financial Service that had cheated investors by promising high-interest rate. Two people linked to Aarudhra and 16 people linked to Elfin e-com have already been arrested.
Speaking at a press meet held on Wednesday, Jayachandran, SP, EOW, said, “The three companies totally had cheated more than two lakh investors of over Rs 8,500 crore.” “A small part of the money was used by these firms to pay the first set of investors to lure them to bring in more investors. This is more of a Ponzi scheme than an investment plan. Investors are pulled in through events held at luxury hotels that are endorsed by celebrities,” the SP said.
Aarudhra has nearly 93,000 investors and more than Rs 2,124 crore has been collected as deposits. Of the eight accused, two have been arrested. Nearly Rs 85 crore has been recovered. Elfin-e-com has collected Rs 500 crore as deposits from nearly 7,000 investors. The Ramanathapuram DCB police have arrested 16 people linked to the case. LNS International Financial Service has more than one lakh investors and has collected nearly Rs 6,000 crore as deposits.
No arrests have been made yet in the case. Cases have been booked against the firms under various sections. The SP said special teams have been formed to trace the funds and nab the absconding accused.