<p> Speak Asia promoter Ram Niwas Pal, one of the three masterminds behind a Rs 2,200-crore online marketing scam, has been arrested by Delhi Police in Bangalore. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Over 24 lakh investors were duped across the country on the pretext of high returns in the scam, which extends to Singapore, Italy and Brazil.<br /><br />Pal, who hailed from UP’s Shahjahanpur district, was living in Bangalore under the fake name Abhay Singh Chandel, and had assumed a different look to conceal identity. “He is the main conspirator and planner of the Speak Asia scam, and devised the whole project — the Referral Sales Distribution System,” said Additional Commissioner of Delhi Police (Crime and Railways) Ravindra Yadav.<br /><br />A six-member team nabbed Pal after interrogating his younger brother Ram Sumiran Pal, who was arrested at Connaught Place in New Delhi last week. The third accused — Manoj Kumar Sharma — is yet to be arrested.<br /><br />“We had information that Pal was staying in Bangalore and planning to shift base,” a police officer told Deccan Herald. <br /><br />The Delhi Police team went to Bangalore on November 25 and located Ram at a rented house on Whitefield Road. A raid was conducted on November 30 and Pal was found living in the house with his wife and eight-month-old son. “He was identified on the basis of a voter ID card,” added the officer. <br /><br />Pal was then produced before a local court and taken into custody on transit remand. In Bangalore, Pal was said to have been developing a business plan for a Malaysia-based IT firm. He also tried his luck at certification of popularity for online advertisement of various websites.<br /><br />The Pal brothers and Sharma were part of several companies registered in Singapore, Italy and Brazil. One of their companies, Speak Asia — an online survey marketing company — was registered in Singapore and introduced in India in 2010.<br /><br />“It sold web subscription for Rs 11,000 each, and in return, the investor had to fill survey forms for certain multinational firms for promised annual payment of Rs 52,000,” said Yadav. <br /><br />After paying a few initial investors, Speak Asia wrapped up its operations in India around mid-2011 and senior office-bearers went into hiding. By then the company had duped over 24 lakh investorsm and the scam went up to Rs 2,276 crore. At least eight cases were registered in Mumbai, Andhra Pardesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh in this regard.<br /><br />In Speak Asia, the promoters kept the membership fee restricted to Rs 11,000 so that even middle-class investors could associate themselves with it. An investor had to initially pay Rs 11,000 to get the password of an account maintained with the company, and annual payment of Rs 52,000 was promised for filling surveys. “A probe revealed that all the surveys conducted by the company were fake and only used to lure people,” added Yadav.<br /><br />It is alleged that Speak Asia remitted over Rs 900 crore to Singapore. “The money was then sent to Dubai, Italy and the United Kingdom. Interestingly, the money came back from the United Kingdom again to Dubai and back to India,” said Yadav.<br /><br />Mumbai Police have been investigating the maximum number of cases of Speak Asia fraud for the past 28 months. “Over 210 bank accounts containing Rs 142 crore have been frozen so far. Another 150 bank accounts are under investigation over suspicion of being used to transfer funds in the scam,” he added.</p>
<p> Speak Asia promoter Ram Niwas Pal, one of the three masterminds behind a Rs 2,200-crore online marketing scam, has been arrested by Delhi Police in Bangalore. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Over 24 lakh investors were duped across the country on the pretext of high returns in the scam, which extends to Singapore, Italy and Brazil.<br /><br />Pal, who hailed from UP’s Shahjahanpur district, was living in Bangalore under the fake name Abhay Singh Chandel, and had assumed a different look to conceal identity. “He is the main conspirator and planner of the Speak Asia scam, and devised the whole project — the Referral Sales Distribution System,” said Additional Commissioner of Delhi Police (Crime and Railways) Ravindra Yadav.<br /><br />A six-member team nabbed Pal after interrogating his younger brother Ram Sumiran Pal, who was arrested at Connaught Place in New Delhi last week. The third accused — Manoj Kumar Sharma — is yet to be arrested.<br /><br />“We had information that Pal was staying in Bangalore and planning to shift base,” a police officer told Deccan Herald. <br /><br />The Delhi Police team went to Bangalore on November 25 and located Ram at a rented house on Whitefield Road. A raid was conducted on November 30 and Pal was found living in the house with his wife and eight-month-old son. “He was identified on the basis of a voter ID card,” added the officer. <br /><br />Pal was then produced before a local court and taken into custody on transit remand. In Bangalore, Pal was said to have been developing a business plan for a Malaysia-based IT firm. He also tried his luck at certification of popularity for online advertisement of various websites.<br /><br />The Pal brothers and Sharma were part of several companies registered in Singapore, Italy and Brazil. One of their companies, Speak Asia — an online survey marketing company — was registered in Singapore and introduced in India in 2010.<br /><br />“It sold web subscription for Rs 11,000 each, and in return, the investor had to fill survey forms for certain multinational firms for promised annual payment of Rs 52,000,” said Yadav. <br /><br />After paying a few initial investors, Speak Asia wrapped up its operations in India around mid-2011 and senior office-bearers went into hiding. By then the company had duped over 24 lakh investorsm and the scam went up to Rs 2,276 crore. At least eight cases were registered in Mumbai, Andhra Pardesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh in this regard.<br /><br />In Speak Asia, the promoters kept the membership fee restricted to Rs 11,000 so that even middle-class investors could associate themselves with it. An investor had to initially pay Rs 11,000 to get the password of an account maintained with the company, and annual payment of Rs 52,000 was promised for filling surveys. “A probe revealed that all the surveys conducted by the company were fake and only used to lure people,” added Yadav.<br /><br />It is alleged that Speak Asia remitted over Rs 900 crore to Singapore. “The money was then sent to Dubai, Italy and the United Kingdom. Interestingly, the money came back from the United Kingdom again to Dubai and back to India,” said Yadav.<br /><br />Mumbai Police have been investigating the maximum number of cases of Speak Asia fraud for the past 28 months. “Over 210 bank accounts containing Rs 142 crore have been frozen so far. Another 150 bank accounts are under investigation over suspicion of being used to transfer funds in the scam,” he added.</p>
