Ex-army officer arrested in investment fraud case

The complaint, filed jointly by Chandigarh residents--Colonel Soninder Singh (retd) and three other ex-army officials, accused Shahi, now proprietor of M/s Money Matters Financial Advisors in Mohali and his associate Laxmi Narayan Shukla of defrauding them of approximately ₹5.86 crore

Police on Tuesday arrested former Major of Madras Regiment Amarjit Singh Shahi in connection with a high-profile case involving the alleged defrauding of ex-army officers.

The case dates back to December 2023. (iStock)

The case dates back to December 2023. The complaint, filed jointly by Chandigarh residents--Colonel Soninder Singh (retd) and three other ex-army officials, accused Shahi, now proprietor of M/s Money Matters Financial Advisors in Mohali and his associate Laxmi Narayan Shukla of defrauding them of approximately ₹5.86 crore.

Shukla, the proprietor of M/s PS Money Multipliers (Uttar Pradesh), allegedly colluded with Shahi and they lured Shahi’s former colleagues into investing by promising high returns. The accused also executed respective tripartite loan agreements with complainants. A fake balance confirmation ledger showing ₹62.49 crore in a Demat account of Moti Lal Oswal Financial Services Pvt Ltd was among the deceptive documents used to convince the victims.

Following the complaint, an FIR was registered under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 467(forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code at Sector 49 police station.

Shahi was produced before a court and sent to two-day police custody.

Scam affected 22 army officials

The scam, allegedly masterminded by Shahi and Shukla, has affected 22 army officers, who were promised returns of 3-4% on their investments. Initially, the returns were provided as promised, which helped in building trust among attracted more investors between 2018 and 2019. However, by August 2022, Shahi claimed his partner’s death and cited a lack of funds, halting the returns.

Shahi, who left the army due to fitness issues, had later joined the Uttar Pradesh Police as a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) but was convicted in 2014 for raping a minor Dalit girl, a decision he appealed against, leading to his release on bail.