South Mumbai traders duped in multi-crore ponzi scam

The proprietor of the company has duped more than 500 investors

More than 500 investors of a South Mumbai-based company - Shree Sai Laxmi Cooperative Credit Society - have been left in the lurch by proprietor Jackiesh Radhakrishna Poojari, who shut his office last month and has been absconding since then. Some of the victims have approached the Mumbai police and a complaint was given to the Economic Offences Wing on November 11 and MRA Marg police as well, but no FIR has been registered in the matter.

Complainant Hinduram Lalaji Parmar

Complainant Hinduram Lalaji Parmar, who runs a mobile accessories shop at Sahara Market, told mid-day, "This fraud is estimated to run into over Rs 50 crore. At present, only 15 investors have come forward to file a complaint. Most of the investors are not even aware that the company has shut down." Parmar has lost Rs 27.20 lakh in the Ponzi scheme.

All the investors run their businesses in South Mumbai areas including Fort, Crawford Market, Sahara Market, Manish Market, Fashion Street, Jhaveri Bazaar, Nathani Market and City Centre at Mumbai Central. Most of them are small-scale businessmen while others are hawkers and fruit sellers, who have lost their savings of up to Rs 20,000.

Proprietor Jackiesh Radhakrishna Poojari and his wife Sonali

'Good returns'
"The Ponzi scheme was running smoothly since the last four years and the victims were given good returns (10 to 20 per cent) on their investments. The company even lured the victims into investing more in various schemes like daily deposit, recurring deposit, monthly income, lakhpati, child deposit, short-term fixed deposit, double money and malamal daily deposit," said a police officer.

Poojari and his wife Sonali had hired over a dozen agents to collect money under these schemes and a daily entry was made in a book provided by the company. However, the agents have not been collecting money since March after the lockdown was announced. "They had promised us better returns after the lockdown. But now Poojari has switched off his cellphone. We are almost bankrupt. I had even invested Rs 70,000 during the lockdown," added Parmar.

Some of the victims even visited Poojari's house in Dhobi Talao but his wife Sonali said that she didn't know about his whereabouts. "She told us that her husband was missing and she has registered a missing person's complaint at Azad Maidan police station. But the neighbours told us that Poojari visits her late in the night and leaves home in the wee hours," Parmar said.

Statements recorded
Mid-day has learnt that the MRA Marg police recorded the statements of five victims but those were yet to be approved by the authorities concerned for an FIR to be registered. "The statements of five people, including Hinduram Parmar, Ramesh Purohit, Sagar Basant and Narayan Giri have been recorded by PSI Babasaheb P Salunkhe at MRA Marg police station. A case is yet to be registered as this offence of cheating and breach of trust falls under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act. Ideally, this matter should have been handled by the EOW but they are delaying it," said a senior police officer Hawker Sunil Pandit, who runs his business at Fort has lost Rs 18,000 in the Ponzi scheme and his brother Anil, who sells mobile covers has lost Rs 6,000. "Hum gareeb ki kaun sunta hai, sir (who listens to us poor people)? We have no other option than to grieve over the loss," said Sunil.

Shahida Daroge, who sells blankets and bedsheets in Fort area has lost Rs 1.75 lakh in the Ponzi scheme. "We used to invest Rs 100 per day in the scheme but have lost our savings. We do not know what to do now. We had gone to meet his [Poojari's] wife but she told us that he is missing. We are poor people and there is no one to support us," Daroge told mid-day.

Janabai, who sells undergarments in Fort area has lost Rs 2.50 lakh in the scheme. A mobile cover seller Pradeep Pandit has lost Rs 5,200. "I don't know where to go now. Poojari has switched off his cellphone and his wife is not cooperating with us. She says she has nothing to do with Poojari's business," Pandit said. Madhvi, who sells combs and clips in Fort area has lost Rs 10,000 to the scheme. Repeated calls and messages sent to Sonali went unanswered.

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