Arbuda Credit Co-operative Society Ltd Ponzi scam
| Co-operative Society | |
| Genre | Deposit mobilising company |
| Fate | Allegations that this company is a Ponzi scheme |
| Founder | Rakesh Agarwal |
| Headquarters | Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India |
Key people |
Rakesh Agarwal Asha Agarwal |
| Website |
arbudacredit |
Arbuda Credit Co-operative Society Ltd allegedly duped 3,000 members about Rs 100 crore on the basis of initial reports.[1][2][3][4][5][6] Incident also known as Mount Abu Ponzi scam.
Modus operandi of Social trade
Founded in 2012, the society spread its wings faster in cash-rich Gujarat than in Rajasthan. Gujaratis, who frequently flocked to Mt Abu, were the prime targets of the society.[1][2]
It paid huge rewards to agents gold, silver coins along with laptops for meeting targets and attracted a large workforce who operated in every city in Gujarat.[3]
Key people
Rakesh Agarwal and Asha Agarwal.[1]
Financial operations
By 2016, the society, with licences to operate in multiple states, had set up 47 branches in Gujarat.[1][2]
Collapse
The demonetization drive helped to unearth the scam as the society became exposed when people started demanding their money back.
Criminal prosecution and ongoing investigations
On Feb 26 2017, Rajasthan police seized hard disks, laptops and documents from the head office of the society at Mt Abu even as the Gujarat police formed a special team, headed by ADGP Anil Pratham, to carry out investigation into complaints from that state.[1]
Twelve FIRs have been filed in Gujarat and four in Rajasthan against the cooperative.[1][2]
The prime suspects in the scam Rakesh Agarwal and his wife Asha Agarwal are untraceable since January 20 2017, a day after they made an appeal in newspapers of returning the maturity amount to all stakeholders.[2]
Police have sought the help of cyber crime expert and tracked the servers of the society at Sirohi and Udaipur. These servers have account details and balance sheets of all branches.[3]
On March 9 2017, Rakesh Agarwal, accused of multi-crore scam surrendered before Mount Abu police and he is currently in police interrogation.[7]
See also
- Social Trade Ponzi scam
- Webwork Ponzi scam
- List of scandals in India
- Ponzi scam
- Pyramid scheme
- Saradha Group financial scandal
- Corruption in India
- Rose Valley financial scandal
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Rs 100 crore Ponzi scheme surfaces in Mount Abu - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Another Ponzi scam! Now, 3,000 people duped òf Rs 100 crore in Mount Abu". InUth. 2017-02-27. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
- 1 2 3 "Mount Abu Based Ponzi Scheme Dupes Hundreds Across Gujarat And Rajasthan For Rs 100 Crore". indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
- ↑ "फर्जी स्कीम के जरिए 2 राज्यों में 100 करोड़ का लगाया चूना, अब फरार". hindi.oneindia.com (in Hindi). Retrieved 2017-03-14.
- ↑ "माउंट आबू में 100 करोड़ के पोन्जी स्कैम का खुलासा! - Navbharat Times". Navbharat Times (in Hindi). 2017-02-27. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
- ↑ Anitha (2017-02-27). "Another Ponzi Scam of Rs 100 crore Came into Live Light at Mount Abu.". Hindaily. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
- ↑ "Multi-crore scam accused surrenders before Abu police - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
External links
- Arbuda Credit Co-operative Society Ltd Ponzi scam collected news and commentary at Times of India