Odisha: 3 including couple run scheme with lucrative gifts and heavy discount, dupe investors of Rs 40Cr
Commissionerate Police has arrested three people including a couple on charges of duping investors of Rs 40 crore by running scheme with lucrative gifts and heavy discount on new cars.
Bhubaneswar: Commissionerate Police has arrested three people including a couple on charges of duping investors of Rs 40 crore by running scheme with lucrative gifts and heavy discount on new cars.
The arrested accused have been identified as Akshay Gouda and his wife Usharani Gouda and Shibaram Gouda.
Elaborating about their modus operandi, Bhubaneswar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Prateek Singh said, “While encouraging people to purchase SIM cards in 2015-16, some private SIM card companies used to motivate them to use the 197 app and whenever anyone used to buy the SIM card could play on 197 app and get vehicles and other valuables as lottery. Shibaram Gauda had won more than 20 vehicles by playing on the app. He sold those vehicles to others at cheap price by click photos with them as proof.”
“When the app was closed, Shibaram Gauda along with Akshay Gauda hatched a plan to say to the people to provide them brand new vehicles at lower cost. As a proof and win the trust of the people they showed the photos that Shibaram Gauda had clicked earlier with the car buyers. After seeing those photos and images, some people got attracted and trusted the duo and invested huge amount of money. In order to gain other’s trust too, the duo had even gave vehicles to some investors at just one or two lakhs rupees. While handing over the cars, both Shibaram and Gauda used to say the investors that they would get such lucrative gifts if invest more money. Believing the duo, people had given them money,” he added.
The DCP further informed that Shibaram Gouda along with Akshay Gouda also had launched different schemes like those who invest more would get gold coin or two-wheelers or other valuable items. Even they had opened two companies to run their business. While Maa Patakhanda Automobile Company was opened in January 2018, the Shiva Shakti Automobile Company which was registered in 2021.
“They used the bank passbooks of their companies for transferring and receiving money. Even they used these accounts while purchasing the vehicles. Many people from different districts of Odisha had invested with them. After getting the money, the accused used them for personal benefits like purchasing costly lands, properties and flats. As they have some lockers, we suspected of unearthing valuables,” Prateek Singh said.
“Till now, four accounts of the accused have come to the fore and we have asked the banks to provide details about the accounts. As per the transaction details, the bank passbook opened in the name of the Maa Patakhanda Auto Mobile shows there was a transition of Rs 2.72 crore, Shibaram Gauda’s account has a transition of Rs 3.28 Crore. We also have got two Axix bank accounts of Usharani Gouda. While the first account has transaction details of Rs 15.83 Crore, the second account has a transaction details of Rs 5.28 Crore. They used the money to purchase gold and automobiles,” he ended.
Trio of them were forwarded to the court post their arrest. Further probe into the incident is underway.
Ms Kalinga