60-year-old held for running ponzi schemes

Dupes investors of Rs 200 crore, promises high returns

A 60-year-old man, who allegedly conned many companies and individuals of over Rs 200 crore by promising them unbelievable and assured returns on their investments, was arrested from Mahipalpur area in Delhi on Saturday.

An officer in the Economic Offences Wing said the accused Vijay Dixit took advantage of his age and good communication skills to lure gullible people into investing into a number of companies floated by him. 

“He would promise them exceptionally high returns on their investments in big real estate projects. He would give out advertisements, promising huge schemes, but it was all done only to dupe the victims,” said Sanjay Tyagi, deputy commissioner of police (economic offences wing).

Dixit allegedly played multiple roles to draw in as many investors as possible. “He projected himself as a builder, developer as well as a financial advisor having membership of Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX),” said Tyagi.

In one such case, numerous unsuspecting investors were left in the lurch after they invested in a pre-launch of residential plots in Sonepat but found the accused missing after that. “He was neither having the land, nor any permission from any authority for that project,” said the officer.

At another time, he shut his office and escaped after cheating over 100 investors in one go. The victims were attracted by the high returns promised by a company floated by him. “He had conned them of around Rs 1.70 crore by inviting investments in commodity trading at MCX,” Tyagi said.

30 cases of cheating

Police said the accused was wanted in around 30 cases of cheating, Negotiable Instruments Act and others that were pending against him. 

He had been absconding for long and was also declared a proclaimed offender in around 12 cases. 

He was finally arrested from a farmhouse in Mahipalpur on Saturday and produced in court.