25 August,2021 07:29 AM IST | Mumbai | Faizan Khan
Nandlal Kesar Singh (seated) after his arrest
Unit 07 of the Mumbai Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested a businessman for allegedly duping thousands of Indians to the tune of Rs 684 crore. The accused was arrested from a five-star hotel at Nariman Point after a tip-off. Interestingly, sources said, when a CB team went to arrest him, he offered them a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to let him go.
The accused, identified as Nandlal Kesar Singh, has cases of various ponzi schemes registered against him in Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat and Karnataka. According to the Mumbai Crime Branch, Deputy Commissioner of Police Datta Nalawade, Senior PI Manish Shridhankar and API Amog Olekar received information about Singh and a trap was laid at the hotel. The Crime Branch also found that there is an look out circular (LOC) issued against Singh by Kerala police in connection with a Rs 120 crore healthcare ponzi scheme. Singh is also the chairman of the Phenomenal group of companies.
"The information was accurate but when we went to the hotel and showed photos of the accused to the staff, they were not able to identify him, or show any records about him. But we kept surveillance inside the hotel and nabbed him when he came to have lunch," Nalawade said.
The police have found that he used to book rooms in hotels under his wife Asha Sonar's name to evade law enforcement agencies. "He also changed his look and that's why the hotel staff was not able to identify him," Shridhankar said.
Also read: Mumbai Crime: Businessman wanted for duping investors of Rs 684 crore held
Singh was absconding since 2018 when the Kerala police issued the LOC against him. According to sources, he hails from Gujarat and his father worked with MSEB. Singh completed BA and then joined a finance company in 2008. "From 2015 he started Ponzi schemes and lured people to invest R7,500 per month for three years assuring them of giving three times their total investment after nine years," said an officer.
He also ran various other schemes related to health insurance and cheated people to the tune of more than R100 crore. "He ran these Ponzi schemes across India and thousands of people have invested in them," the officer added.
According to the CB, he runs various companies including Phenomenal Housing Finance Ltd, Phenomenal Plantation Ltd, Phenomenal Healthcare Services, etc. The Crime Branch has found that since 2018 he stayed in the USA, UK and later went to Nepal from where he entered India under another identity and opened a hospital in Kerala. He stays in Nepal and has a Nepali passport.
According to Mumbai Crime Branch, the Latur police took Singh in custody later on Tuesday as there is a case against him lodged there. The Gujarat police will take his custody after them in their ongoing probe of ponzi schemes.
