COIMBATORE: The Crime Branch has arrested an alleged associate of M Sakthi Anandhan, the promoter of a Coimbatore-based MLM firm which is being probed for dubious investmemt schemes.
The Madurai resident, SV Vijayaragav, was remanded to the prison on Saturday, police sources added. He was detained by a special police team in Madurai before being brought to Coimbatore.
The 48-year-old is behind the production of herbal products that are being sold by the MLM firm to its investors, said police. He claimns to be a PhD and submitted fake documents in this regard, said police.
He was booked under IPC Sections 465 (punishment for forgery), 468 (forgery for cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 420 (cheating) by the City Crime Branch Police.
During the arrest process on Friday Vijayaragav was briefly admitted to a private hospital in Madurai as he reported chest pain. After the doctors declared that his health was fine, he was brought to Coimbatore and remanded to the prison on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the police have requested the Tamil Nadu Drug Control Department to check as many as 84 Ayurvedic products that are offered to the investors in the schemes, police sources added.
According to the police, Vijayaragav, who is originally from Thirunelveli, had started a firm and launched investment schemes, and then closed the company. Sakthi Anandhan (51) who was associated with Vijayaragav then started another MLM firm -- MYV3Ads Media Private Limited -- three years ago. The firm lured investors by offering income schemes for watching online advertisements. It is said Vijayaragav was the owner of the firm and Sakthi Anandhan was the Managing Director.
People can subscribe to six different schemes by investing from Rs 360 to Rs 1, 21,260. The investors are given capsules of Ayurvedic medicine and they could earn additional income by referring new members to the scheme. If someone refers a new member, he would get promotional income and a special reward from the firm. The firm allegedly triggers greed among the public that they can earn huge income by simply viewing the advertisements and they allegedly used the sale of Ayurvedic products, to cover up the money circulation, said police.
During the investigation, it was clear that the Ayurvedic products supplied to the investors were manufactured by Vijayaragav. He submitted to the CCB officials a certificate of PhD in Naturopathy given by Annamalai University in 2022. He also claimed that he has a licence to manufacture herbal products in Puducherry and completed a course in Bachelor of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences (BNYS).
Police contacted the Annamalai University to verify his credentials and came to know that Vijayaragavan had submitted a fake PhD certificate to the police after forging it. So a fresh case was booked against him, said a police officer.
Several lakhs of people from across south India have invested in the firm and the case will be handed over to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the police as soon as possible as it involved alleged financial irregularities, the police added.
The Crime Branch booked a case against the firm and its authorities on January 19 under five sections of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation (Banning) Act and the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes (BUDS) Act. As per the case the firm is luring people by making them invest in their schemes without explaining the basic information about the uses of medicines and sharing of the profit.
The investors had submitted a petition at the Coimbatore district Collectorate asking to withdraw the FIR. Sakthi Anandhan who was arrested in February is now out on bail. While he was in prison, Vijayaragav came to the light and started a YouTube channel and started to speak in favour of the firm, said police.
The firm run by Vijayaragav namely Shidvaa Herbal and Foods manufactured the ayurvedic products at Pondicherry and Annur in Coimbatore and supplied them to the MYV3Ads Media Private Limited, said a police release.