Five people, including the founder of a private firm, were arrested by the High Grounds police for allegedly cheating investors through unregulated deposit schemes offering high returns.
The arrested are Sunil Joshi, 58, from Indore and founder of e-Biotorium Network Pvt Ltd; the firm's Karnataka director Shekh Sadiq Ali, 32, of Subhashnagar; and distributors Yogesh N, 44, of Subramanyapura and Pramoda Gopinath Nayak, 51, from Goa.
The accused had conducted a promotional meeting with around 1,000 participants at Ambedkar Bhavan on January 15. The suspects claimed to run a private firm using a pyramid chain link system and were inviting members of the public to deposit money and get a huge commission by distributing a few products. The depositors were also promised more commission and perks if they got new members to the company.
A police team headed by inspector Shivaswamy C B conducted a raid on the firm's premises and arrested four people under the charges of cheating and provisions of the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act.
Joshi started the company in 2020. The company’s website claims that it is a biomagnetic mattress manufacturing and trading company with its head office in Miragaon, Maharashtra. Around 50 people have given their statements against the accused, saying that they have been cheated and that company allegedly didn't give them any commission.
The police have seized around Rs 38 lakh from Joshi and have frozen the bank accounts of the firm.