NEW DELHI, Dec 11: The CBI on Wednesday filed a chargesheet against Biswanath Roy and Mridul Dutta in one of the Assam Ponzi Scam cases related to AJRS Marketing Pvt. Ltd which allegedly swindled Rs 5.14 crore from around 2,600 victims by promising to double the invested money in 200 days, officials said.
It is alleged that the accused were part of a multi-level deposit scheme collecting deposits under the trade names “Ayurvedlife” and “AJRS Trading”.
Investors were allegedly lured with promises of substantial returns and incentives such as bikes, cars, and foreign trips upon reaching specific investment thresholds, the officials said.
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Roy and Dutta marketed and promoted the unregulated deposit scheme of AJRS by participating in various meetings with potential depositors, it is alleged.
The duo allegedly promoted a non-existing business model through brochures of Ayurvedlife, AJRS Trading, and AJRS Group circulated to depositors through WhatsApp groups and chats to lure potential depositors to invest a large sum in their schemes.
Roy and Dutta allegedly falsely promised to double the depositors’ money in 200 days through the unregulated deposit schemes.
They allegedly solicited members to the multi-level marketing (MLM) structure of the schemes where each participant had to recruit others to earn commission on the deposits of other members.
Both recruited members under them and made them deposit a large sum of amount in the company, the CBI alleged in the charge-sheet.
“Subsequently, the deposits were allegedly misappropriated, causing a total fraud of approximately Rs 5.14 crore and affecting around 2,600 victims, primarily from Assam,” the CBI Spokesperson said in a statement.
The actions of AJRS Marketing Pvt. Ltd allegedly constituted illegal trading without requisite permissions from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the CBI has alleged.
“The chargesheet has been filed within 90 days of the arrest of the two accused (Roy and Dutta). They are presently lodged in the judicial custody in this case,” the statement said.
The agency had registered the case on October 14 as one of the 41 cases referred by the Assam Government under online trading scam.
“The complaint alleged a surge in fraudulent trading apps and companies operating in Assam, which misled the public with promises of high returns. The entities allegedly swindled crores of rupees from investors, causing significant financial harm,” it said.
Main accused Gopal Paul, director of AJRS Marketing Private Limited, was also arrested by the CBI in this case on November 12 and is presently under judicial custody, it said. (PTI)
