Bengaluru: In yet another major scam, a multilevel marketing company has defrauded over 50 Bengalureans, who alleged that they have lost corers of rupees.
The company, EPC E Commerce, had its head office in HSR Layout and lured investors from across the country. Two FIRs were filed at the HSR Layout police station in January and May this year. As the number of complainants started increasing, the police have transferred the cases to the Central Crime Branch.
Vinod Naik, a civil engineer and an investor who lost Rs 63,000, said that he learnt about the company from a friend. “After checking the transactions he had made, I got convinced and became a member after electronically transferring the money to the company’s account on February 1. For the amount I had invested, the company had promised me a return of Rs 1,000 per day for 200 days, with the condition that the money is transferred only on bank working days, that is five days a week, except on Saturdays and Sundays.”
A resident of Nelamangala, Mr Naik said, “I was lured by the packages offered by the company. There were over four packages with different returns. I had opted for the one where my returns on a daily basis were Rs 1,000. But not a single rupee I received. I am not the only one who has been duped. Some 12-15 my friends too were members.” Aayesha, another member, said that her husband invested over Rs 3.5 lakh and didn’t get any returns. “We were waiting for the company to respond. But they have closed and run away. We have been waiting for justice for over four months now. There are many people who we know have been cheated,” she said.
Nadeem Sharif, a resident of Jayanagar, said that Chandrashekhar Gupta Gala, who headed the company, has cheated over 2.5 lakh people across the country and the scam may run up to Rs 4,000 crore.
Sharif said, “I too had invested a large amount of money. The company started in June 2017, promising daily returns for 200 days from the date the money was invested. They used Youtube and Whatsapp to update the investors regularly.” For the first seven months EPC made payments promptly, but stopped them from mid-January 2018. But it continued to collect money from new investors till February. “Since January, it was only making false promises of releasing the payments and kept giving excuses for not paying. Company officials kept releasing videos saying the money was being invested in new plans such as Epcexchange, Sreecoin and Sreegold through crypto currency. All the companies were apparently owned by EPC,” he said.
