Noida’s ‘like’ Ponzi scam may be bigger than Saradha

NOIDA: The massive proportions of the online Ponzi scam busted in Noida started unravelling as over 2,000 complaints from swindled subscribers poured in from across India as well as countries like Oman and Nigeria. The scheme appears to have run on turbo charge for the past year and a half, netting nearly 6 lakh subscribers within that period, investigators said.
The initial estimate of the fraud, engineered by 26-year-old Anubhav Mittal, suggests it is bigger than the Saradha scam, the most sensational case of large-scale spurious money schemes to unravel in recent times.Mittal’s Social Trade, which promised returns for hitting like buttons on various random URLs, is a scam worth Rs 3,726 crore, according to an initial estimate of deposits drawn up by the UP special task force (STF) that unearthed the racket on February 2.
The Saradha scam, which unspooled in Bengal in 2013, is the subject of a multi-agency probe and is estimated to be in the range of Rs 1,700 crore-Rs 2,000 crore. It’s not known if Mittal followed the rise and fall of Saradha kingpin Sudipta Sen, but at half his age, the Ghaziabad boy has given Ponzi rackets a new dimension with the use of internet and social media. Investigators said Mittal’s pyramid scheme was spreading so quickly that it could have touched Rs 10,000 crore if it kept growing at the same rate.
Mittal has more similarities with Sen. Like the Saradha founder, he had a penchant for doing things “in style” and got Bollywood stars Sunny Leone and Ameesha Patel over to Greater Noida for a promotional event of his company, Ablaze Info Solutions Private Limited, at the Crowne Plaza hotel three months ago.
Sources said Mittal was very well-networked, including with the political class, and was in the process of hiring top legal experts to defend his case. A photograph of him with a senior Union minister circulated on various groups on Saturday. The STF confirmed it had found the photo. (TOI has a copy of the picture but is not publishing it because its authenticity could not be verified).
As of Saturday, the STF had received around 2,500 complaints from different locations on its email ID reportfraud@upstf.com. “We are receiving complaints from different parts of the country. We have also received around 50 complaints from residents in Nigerian cities and Muscat. We have got calls from other countries about the fraud. The email will be incorporated into the investigation,” said Amit Pathak, SSP of the STF.
A new FIR, meanwhile, was registered against Mittal, his partner Shridhar Prasad and aide Mahesh Dayal, who were arrested on February 2 and are now in judicial custody. It’s the third FIR in the case — the two previous ones were filed in Noida. An Enforcement Directorate team visited the STF office on Saturday.
As reported by TOI on February 3, the STF froze Rs 520 crore in 12 bank accounts that Mittal’s company had amassed. But that could just be the tip of the iceberg. STF officers believe huge funds have been stashed away. Before raiding the Ablaze office in Sector 63, the STF team had questioned bank officials about transactions of the company. But information leaked out to Mittal and his employees that the STF was on their trail. Officers said large sums had been transferred into various accounts, which is now being scrutinised.
Investigators have also traced some of Mittal’s assets — a villa worth Rs 5 crore in Jaypee Greens, and properties worth Rs 7 crore in Omaxe CP in Greater Noida. He also has owns an Audi, a Skoda and another from the Ford stables.
The nine-member STF team conducting the probe is headed by IG Bhagwan Swaroop Shrivastava and comprises the Meerut DIG and Noida’s SP (crime).
Social Trade is estimated to have about 6.5 lakh investors, who were told the company had got a contract from a third party to increase the latter’s online hits on digital platforms. The investors were given 25, 50, 75 and 125 URLs on their phones every day, based on the ‘subscription plan. People were enrolled for plans worth Rs 5,750, Rs 11,500, Rs 28,750 and Rs 57,500.