An Enforcement Directorate (ED) money-laundering probe against a private firm has revealed that it allegedly collected over ₹100 crore from investors by running a fraudulent scheme connected to commodity trade and promising lucrative returns, before it shut down its operations and siphoned off the funds, duping them.
The accused firm had allegedly created a website, on which the investors’ were given access to their virtual accounts, which seemingly gave them the impression that they were earning regular profits from the trade, agency sources said.
Multyjet Trade duped the general public in the guise of an investment scheme
The accused firm, Multyjet Trade Private Limited, collected more than ₹100 crore from the victims in a short span of time, within four months, last year, the sources said. Explaining the modus operandi, the source said, “Investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act revealed that Multyjet Trade, its promoter director Tekula Mukthiraj and others, duped the general public in the guise of an investment scheme. For this, a website was created on which the victims were shown their virtual accounts to give an impression that they were earning profits from commodity trading.”
Initially, the firm had allegedly even provided returns on the money invested by the victims. “However, over a period of time, the firm stopped responding to the investors and eventually closed their operations.
The accused person, in connivance with his associates, routed the proceeds of crime in his and his wife’s bank accounts as well as the bank accounts of firms controlled by him,” the source said.
Three of the firms controlled by the accused person -- TMR Infra and Developers, RealLife Infra and Developers and Radhe Radhe Krishna Infra and Developers -- are under the ED scanner as their bank accounts allegedly received the case’s proceeds of crime. “So far, the Directorate of Enforcement has provisionally attached ₹18.79 crore held in 18 bank accounts of Multyjet Trade, its promoter director and others under the provisions of PMLA,” the source said.
The agency is verifying if the accused firm had procured data on daily trends related to commodity trade, which were used as conten tfor the website, from individuals in Mumbai. The ED probe was initiated on the basis of a case registered by the Central Crime Station, Hyderabad against the firm for allegedly indulging in fraudulent multi-level marketing and investment schemes.
