Kasaragod: Two months after Kasaragod police filed a cheating case against a 'financial wizard', who promises to double deposits in 10 months, 17 depositors have come forward saying they have lost money in his schemes.
According to their complaints, the 17 depositors have lost a total of Rs 26 lakh by investing in BigPlus Fin Trading, a company promoted by Dambethamoole Vinod Kumar under an entity called Global Business Group (GBG). They have invested between Rs 10,000 and Rs 5 lakh in the 'money doubling scheme' of BigPlus Fin Trading, said police.
Vinod Kumar, a native of Kundamkuzhy in Bedadka grama panchayat, claims to have assets worth Rs 2,000 crore, and runs several financial companies, including GBG Nidhi Limited, a small-savings company.
Police suspect he is running a money chain, that is taking money from new depositors and paying off earlier investors. A Special Branch officer told Onmanorama that Vinod Kumar could have raised around Rs 800 crore through the scheme.
Bedakam police have now registered 17 cases under the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019, and also charged him with cheating (section 420 of the IPC). "This is the first time the depositors have come forward to press charges against him," said Shibu M Philip, a member of the investigation team of Bedakam police.
Onmanorama reported about Vinod Kumar and his companies and schemes on November 11. "Since then, his tone has changed," said the officer.
Initially, Vinod Kumar used to ward off investors seeking weekly returns by giving them new dates. "Now he challenges them to sue him," he said. "That's why they came to us," he said.
Armyman, sister duped
Among the 17 complainants are an army jawan and his sister. In July, the duo signed an agreement to sell their 25-cent plot to Vinod Kumar for Rs 7.20 lakh. "It is a marked-up price. The market rate will be around Rs 6 lakh," said the investigating officer.
But since Vinod Kumar promised to pay more, he told the brother and sister that he would pay the money over a period of 10 months. And for that, he will invest Rs 4 lakh in one of his money-doubling schemes.
Vinod Kumar then invested Rs 2 lakh in the sister's name and another Rs 2 lakh in the Armyman's wife's name. "Vinod Kumar told them that they could reduce the time to double the money by bringing in more investors," said the officer.
So the Armyman invested Rs 2 lakh from his pocket in the money-doubling scheme and brought in his relatives, too. "Needless to say, they lost their money. The Armyman said they did not transfer the property to Vinod Kumar but the original title deed of the land is with him," said Philip.
Depositor buys into 'GBG Cryptocurrency'
If one thought Vinod Kumar took the Armyman for a ride, the case of another complainant equally baffled the investigators.
After the police launched an investigation into Vinod Kumar's businesses in October, a female depositor approached him demanding her money back in December. "But he convinced her to turn her investment into cryptocurrency. That too, his own GBG cryptocurrency," said the officer.
Vinod Kumar reportedly told the woman that GBG cryptocurrency yielded better returns than the money-doubling scheme of BigPlus Fin Trading and the police could not seize digital currency, the officer said. "We are baffled by his audacity and his silver tongue," said the officer. The woman is among the 17 complainants.
Another man was also asked to buy GBG cryptocurrency but he did not understand the concept and asked Vinod Kumar to return his money in cash.
No receipts of deposits
Most of the investors have no documents to prove their investments, said police. But some small depositors transferred the money from their bank to the company. "So we have evidence. The complainant who deposited Rs 5 lakh did it in cash and has no receipt," the officer said.
Depositors are asked to buy two shares worth Rs 1,000 of GBG Nidhi Limited if they want to invest in the 'money doubling scheme' of BigPlus Fin Trading. "Most of the depositors have only the share certificate of GBG Nidhi Limited. Not the receipt of the money they invested in BigPlus," the officer said.
But BigPlus Fin Trading has an Android app, which is installed on the investors' mobile phones. "The app shows the investments made and the returns are given," he said.
One complainant told police that he invested Rs 1.5 lakh in the scheme. "The app shows he got Rs 1.35 lakh back but according to his bank statement only Rs 65,000 has been credited to his account," the officer said.
To be sure, 'Nidhi' companies can be formed only with the objective of "cultivating the habit of savings" among people. According to the Department of Corporate Affairs, a Nidhi company can raise money only by taking deposits (fixed, recurring, and savings) from members. The money raised can be used only to give loans, again only to members. The deposits in Nidhi company cannot be a pre-condition for investment in any other company or scheme and neither can money invested in Nidhi be siphoned out.
18 accounts of companies, directors frozen
Meanwhile, Bedakam police have frozen 18 bank accounts of three GBG companies and 12 directors of the companies, said the officer. "We have got bank statements of eight accounts. They have around Rs 11.66 crore," he said.
Meanwhile, six directors, including Vinod Kumar, have moved the high court with four petitions, said police. One, for anticipatory bail; two, challenging the freeze on their bank accounts; three for accessing the money in frozen accounts; and four, for quashing the case against them saying the original complainant was not a depositor and had no locus standi in the case.
To be sure, the case against Vinod Kumar was initially registered in October based on a complaint filed by K P Muralidharan, chairman of Prathikarana Vedi, a citizen's collective that takes up people's issues.
He was not a depositor. But police took proactive action and collected statements of three depositors to bolster the case ."But now we have 17 FIRs registered on complaints filed by depositors who lost money," the officer said.
