Five held for duping investors of Rs 80 lakh

Five persons were today arrested from here for allegedly duping investors to the tune of Rs 80 lakh in name of running a multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme, police said.

The accused included Sunil Kumar Singh who is allegedly the mastermind of the fraud, they said. Police said Singh and his associates allegedly created a number of portals to lure investors and promised a whopping 13 per cent return on investment per day, besides an attractive commission on enrolment of new members for various investment plans. According to police, the victims who fell prey to the scheme were from Hyderabad, different parts of Andhra Pradesh and from neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
Police said the accused opened more than eight accounts under fictitious names for the purpose of channelling the investments. The accused never kept their promise and stopped answering phone calls before disappearing. A complaint was lodged in June by V Venkatashiva Reddy who was allegedly cheated of Rs 20 lakh, police said.