Investment trap: Zirakpur couple among seven in dock for ₹10-crore fraud
The accused have been identified as Kamalpreet Singh and his wife, Asminder Kaur, who are residents of Lohgarh Road; Balwinder Shroff of Exchange Colony Road, Zirakpur, Sunny and Puppy of Delhi.
A couple has been arrested while five others have been booked for allegedly duping multiple people, including their friends, to the tune of ₹10 crore on the pretext of investment.
The accused have been identified as Kamalpreet Singh and his wife, Asminder Kaur, who are residents of Lohgarh Road; Balwinder Shroff of Exchange Colony Road, Zirakpur, Sunny and Puppy of Delhi.
While Kamalpreet and Asminder are said to be the masterminds behind the crime, and have been nabbed, a hunt is on for the remaining accused.
Zirakpur station house officer (SHO) Simarjit Singh said the accused had duped people on the pretext of doubling their money either by investing in property, or through investment in immigration/travel agency. From some, they had borrowed money on interest and defaulted after giving a few instalments.
The accused have been booked under Section 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 467/471 (forgery of documents) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
Complainants, including Sanjay Garg, Gurmehar Singh, Baljinder Singh Shashank Sharma, Yogesh Mahajan and Vijay Kumar, told police that they were friends with Kamalpreet and had handed him the money in good faith.
But the latter was planning to flee abroad after grabbing their money. Among the complainants, some are bank employees, while others are property dealers.
The accused had taken money to the tune of crores through cheques and other legal means to win their trust.