Four held for running fake advisory firm in Indore

INDORE: Police on Friday arrested four persons for running a fake investment advisory firm, duping clients off lakhs of rupees by promising them with good returns. The accused ran a website under the firm 'Capital Mars Invest Advisory' and made phone calls to prospective investors across the country, promising them they would get returns of up to Rs 12 lakh on investments of Rs 2.40 lakh, an official release said.The matter came to fore when Dulal Chandra Dutta, a resident of Serampur (Hubli, Odisha), lodged a complaint with DIG SK Singh during the weekly public hearing on November 1. Dutta alleged that the investment advisory firm had taken Rs 72,500 from him and promised good returns. Instead, he was given wrong advice about investments in stocks, causing losses to the tune of Rs 10 lakh.Investigators found that the website run by the accused showed that the firm's office was in Orbit Mall. But verifications showed that no such office existed, the release said adding it was also found that the firm was not registered under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Police traced one of the accused, Santosh Patidar, who confessed running the racket. Working under the alias 'Rahul', Santosh had been making phone calls to prospective clients by offering them exciting returns and coaxing them to deposit money into his personal saving account.Police found that money from the investors was also deposited in the account of Santosh's employee Akash Sen. Company employees were involved in making calls to clients across the country by using fake names.One Shailendra Mukati of Gopur Colony made phone calls under the name 'Anand Sharma', trapping unsuspecting clients. The police also found Dheeraj Behrani, a resident of Khatiwala Tank, was involved in the racket.Santosh, Akash, Shailendra and Dheeraj were arrested for impersonation and cheating. Cops also found mobile phones and SIM cards used by the accused.