Ponzi scam: Enforcement Directorate attaches Rs 261 crore assets of pvt firm

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 261 crore in connection with its money laundering probe against a Haryana-based multi-level marketing group that allegedly perpetrated ponzi schemes and cheated investors. 

According to ED,  an order, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), for attachment of residential plots, agricultural lands and residential units belonging to Hisar-based Future Maker Life Care Pvt Ltd and its two Directors Radhe Shyam and Bansi Lal, their family members and associates has been issued.

The 16 immovable properties that have been attached are located in Hisar, Adampur, Kulam, Delhi and Chandigarh apart from bank balances worth Rs 252 crore kept in 34 accounts.  The total value of the attachment is Rs 261 crore, it said. 

The ED said it filed a PMLA case in March this year after taking cognizance of FIRs registered against the group by the Telangana police for cheating the common public by propagating a false theme of “a life turning opportunity to earn an income of Rs 20,000 to Rs 10 lakh per month”.

It said the group invited gullible people to become members of their ponzi pyramid scheme “in the guise of” multi-level marketing by selling products like suit length and edible items. 

“They (promoters) extensively advertised their commission model in which very high commissions were paid for enrollment of new members in the downlinks of the pyramid,” the ED said. 

It alleged funds were fraudulently collected from subscribers as a deposit towards membership in the scheme through a chain of agents spread across India. 

These deposits collected through the schemes were illegally diverted into the personal accounts of the directors, their family members and other associates and to other shell companies incorporated by the two directors, the ED said.