04 November,2014 06:28 AM IST | | Chaitraly Deshmukh
The complainants met the Police Commissioner and officials from Economic Offences Wing, and the case has now been transferred to state-unit CID
scam
An online work-from-home company has allegedly duped a software professional, along with 50 people, to the tune of Rs 10 crore. The complainants recently met Police Commissioner, Satish Mathur and officials from Economic Offences Wing (EOW), and the case has now been handed over to the state's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for investigation.
Sangeeta Singh (35) who stays with her husband and kids in Wakad, had left her job in the software industry to take care of her children. She, along with 50 other people, had invested money in a work-from-home earning scheme through www.adooye.com, an online marketing firm registered in New Delhi.
"After having kids, I decided to quit my job to stay with them. A common friend told me about the website, where I would have to just visit advertisements to get points that is converted to money. The registration fees were anywhere between Rs 3,000 to Rs 35,000," Sangeeta recounts.
The 35-year-old started working with the firm in July and paid them a total of Rs 12,000 in the last four months. "I had registered four email IDs to get good returns. In August, I contacted the company's customer care executive when I did not receive my money on time. They told me there was some technical glitch, due to which the amount could not be credited to my account. On September 22, the website vanished and the customer care executive stopped picking my calls. When I visited their office at East Street in Camp area, I found out that I was not the only one who was cheated. Around 50 people in Pune were duped of R10 crore," she added.
Another complainant, Shreeprasad Gurav (35), a resident of Bibewadi had a similar experience, "I, along with three of my friends had attended a seminar in Mumbai about this company. We were assured that our money would be doubled in 120 days. I was in need of money and therefore invested R6 lakh in June."
On October 27, the victims of the fraud met the commissioner who assured them help. As the amount of fraud was huge, the case has been transferred to the CID. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Economic Offence Wing), Rajesh Bansode, said, "The amount duped is in crores and there are people coming forward not only from Pune, but we found similar cases in Bangalore as well."
A senior CID official, on the condition of anonymity, told mid-day, "We are investigating the case and the details cannot be revealed at this point. The complainants have named Nihal Verma, Rajat Bansal and Anoop in the case." Despite repeated attempts, the company's representatives did not answer our calls.
