The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday revealed that it has attached movable and immovable assets worth Rs 38.33 crore in over half a dozen locations across Maharashtra and Goa. The measures were taken in a multi-level marketing scam.
Probe agency’s Nagpur unit attached these assets on May 1 in the alleged scam of Shreesurya Investments (Sameer Joshi) under the PMLA, 2002.
These assets are located in Nagpur, Amravati, Akola, and Madgaon districts, among other areas across Maharashtra and Goa include movable (Fixed Deposits) and immovable assets acquired by accused Sameer Joshi, his companies and his co-accused accomplices.
Accused lured investors by promising huge returns: ED
ED kickstarted the investigation after an FIR was filed by Nagpur Police. The FIR, registered under various sections of the IPC, revealed that Joshi allegedly trapped the public by promising huge returns through schemes promoted by his Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), Shreesurya Investments, modelled after the Wasankar scheme.
However, ED said, Sameer Joshi "after alluring the public by making false assurances, with all the ill-will and ill-intention, duped the investors and used the public funds for the accumulation of properties in his name, his family members and business entities."
"Sameer Joshi also made false and misleading advertisements about the benefits of the scheme", the ED added.
According to the chargesheets, a total of 1,267 investors were identified who were defrauded with a cumulative amount of approximately Rs 105.05 crore, which was ascertained as the total Proceeds of Crime (PoC) to date.
SEBI also files case
Moreover, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has also filed a prosecution complaint in this case. SEBI has filed a case against Sameer Joshi under Section 24(1) of the SEBI Act, 1992.
As per ED, various commission agents were also employed by the Shreesurya Group during the course of these illegal investment activities. "These commission agents accepted 3-7 per cent of commission on the investments done by the investors", ED said. Notably, these agents are booked as co-accused in the case.
"A total of 25 of such agents were identified as co-accused in the supplementary chargesheets filed by the LEA and the properties derived by them from the proceeds of crime (PoC) have also been attached by the ED," added the federal agency. These commission agents also organised "Investors Meet" to make new and genuine investors invest their money in Shreesurya group schemes.
(With PTI Inputs)
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