Two Mechanical Engineers Arrested for INR 1 Billion Ponzi Scam

This week, Mumbai's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) arrested two mechanical engineers in connection with a Ponzi scam in which the company they worked for promised investors annual returns of up to 24% and raised INR 280 million from hundreds of people.

The suspects arrested by the police were Hariprasad Venugopal, 44, a resident of Thane, and Pranav Raorane, 43, a resident of Mulund.

The two suspects were partners in the investment company Moneyedge Group along with two other wanted suspects. They were known to have duped about 3,000 investors and raised INR 1 billion. The police have received reports from 100 victims so far.

After the establishment of Moneyedge Group, the suspects set up four other affiliates including Moneyedge Investment, Moneyedge Fincorp, Moneyedge Realtors and Moneyedge Capital Services.

They lured investments with 24% annual returns, claiming that dividends could be paid monthly and assuring victims that their money would be used to trade stocks, commodities or real estate.

The victim, Rahul Potdar, reported to the police in October last year that he and his family had invested Rs 2.8 crore since January 2022 in various schemes offered by this company. However, they have not received any returns paid by the company since May last year.