Representative image of fraud.
Credit: iStock Photo
Bengaluru: The CCB apprehended two men accused of running an investment scam through a "fraudulent" company and scamming over 700 people.
The Organised Crime Wing arrested Pradeep Kumar, 32, the proprietor of Pramya International, and Vasanth Kumar, 52, the company's agent.
While police investigations show that the duo conned Rs 25 crore out of 700 people, the figure could be much higher and more people could be involved.
They have been booked under IPC sections related to cheating and the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes (BUDS) Act, Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda told reporters on Tuesday.
“The investigations are ongoing to ascertain the actual number of victims. We urge people who have been scammed by Pramya International to approach the CCB. We will make all efforts to get their money back," he said.
How the scam worked
According to police, the company had different investment plans for the general public, offering various percentages of "annual returns".
The company's website states that investors are to put in monthly investments for 12 months, until they receive returns based on their selected plan.
Most of the victims are from South Bengaluru, according to the police.
The duo sought investors through their known group of friends and eventually lured them into others to invest, a police officer close to the investigation said.
"If customers brought in more people, they got commission as a percentage of the invested sum based on the plans chosen by the new investors," the officer explained.
Police investigations revealed that the suspects were involved in real estate dealings and invested the money from the scam into land purchases around Bengaluru.