Lookout notice against Ferreira in QNet case

MUMBAI: The city's economic offences wing (EOW), investigating the QNet case, issued on Wednesday a lookout circular against eight people, including Michael Ferreira, winner of the World Amateur Billiards Championship and a Padma Bhushan recipient.
The notices have been issued in connection with the Rs 425-crore multi-level marketing case.
Rules state that those named in the circular may be detained at any airport in the country.Ferreira (75) is a stakeholder in QNet that has been accused of using the banned binary-pyramid business model for its multi-level marketing scheme to entice investors. Cops are also on the lookout for QNet's promoters Vijay Eshwaran, Navjot and Chinar Surendran. "The notice has been issued against Ferreira and others. We summoned him for questioning in December but he did not appear before the police," said a senior police officer.
QNet allegedly lured more than one lakh investors with schemes involving investment between Rs 30,000 and Rs 7 lakh. "They posed as a marketing firm that sold bio-discs, watches, herbal products and holiday packages. They even claimed that the bio-disc could cure cancer and brain diseases," said a police official. The bank accounts of QNet and its associates, which have a balance of Rs 110 crore, have been frozen.
The EOW has registered a case against the directors and officials of Vihaan Direct Selling (India) Pvt Ltd, QNet, Transview Enterprises and Vanmala Hotels and Tourism Services. Nine people have been arrested in the case.
The accused have been charged with cheating and forgery under relevant sections of the Prize, Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978. "I cannot comment without seeing the notice," said QNet's spokesperson Ajay Chanam.