Busted: A Ponzi scam with incredible weekly returns

Another Ponzi scam has surfaced in the city with the arrest of a three member-gang which allegedly duped 2,500 investors to the tune of Rs 20 crore by promising high returns every week.

Police raided a hotel in UB City in central Bengaluru and arrested Sunil Kumar Choudhary, 36, of Haryana, Rijesh P, 36, and Rakesh K S, 41, both from Kannur. The police action came after Sanjeev Kumar Dana, 30, a private firm employee, lodged a complaint on September 2.

Police said that the trio had floated a fake investment company under the name of WAM Services. Their schemes ran like this: invest Rs 25,000, get Rs 1,250 per week for 20 weeks and the entire principal sum in the 21st week. Similarly, weekly returns of Rs 2,500 were promised on investments of Rs 50,000 and Rs 5,000 on Rs 1 lakh with a similar assurance of the principal repayment.

The police investigation found that the suspects were running nothing but a Ponzi scheme. They had returned only small sums to investors and splurged the rest. A senior police officer said the gang had lured many people in Kerala as well.

A court has remanded the suspects in police custody. Police are interrogating them about the extent of the scam and the number of investors.