Amber Dalal’s Ponzi scam: ED freezes Rs 37 crore | Mumbai News – Times of India
MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen assets worth Rs 37 crore, including cash, after conducting searches at several premises on Friday-Saturday in a money laundering case they are investigating against Amber Dalal, the proprietor of Ritz Consultancy Services. The ED stated that Amber Dalal took money from investors through a suspected Ponzi scheme by promising high returns and then absconded with their money after giving initial returns.
Dalal had cheated 1,300 investors of over Rs 600 crore. Earlier, the Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing had arrested Amber after registering a fraud case against him. Amber is currently in judicial custody. Based on the police case, the ED registered the money laundering case.
The ED investigation revealed that Amber Dalal raised money from investors on the pretext that he invested the funds in 9 commodities (gold, silver, crude oil, natural gas, zinc, lead, nickel, copper, aluminum) and traded in them, ensuring the capital was safe and promising an annual return of between 18% to 22%. He used the same modus operandi for raising money from investors in the UAE and the USA as well.
During the search, the ED unveiled a network of stockbrokers and investment advisors who brought clients to Amber in lieu of commission. It was also found that payments received from new investments were being utilized to pay out the monthly returns to the old investors. Amber Dalal diverted the funds received in Ritz’s account to personal accounts, which were further routed to family members’ accounts and used for creating assets. He has diverted approximately Rs. 51 Crore to his personal accounts, said the ED. These funds were used to acquire assets in India and abroad. Eight such immovable properties in India and two abroad have been identified.
ED said that they found that, other than through banking channels, investments were made in cash as well, which was then infused into the books as accommodation entries in connivance with Mumbai-based jewelers. Returns on such cash-based investments were given to investors in India and abroad (including the UK, UAE) by hawala operators.
Dalal had cheated 1,300 investors of over Rs 600 crore. Earlier, the Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing had arrested Amber after registering a fraud case against him. Amber is currently in judicial custody. Based on the police case, the ED registered the money laundering case.
The ED investigation revealed that Amber Dalal raised money from investors on the pretext that he invested the funds in 9 commodities (gold, silver, crude oil, natural gas, zinc, lead, nickel, copper, aluminum) and traded in them, ensuring the capital was safe and promising an annual return of between 18% to 22%. He used the same modus operandi for raising money from investors in the UAE and the USA as well.
During the search, the ED unveiled a network of stockbrokers and investment advisors who brought clients to Amber in lieu of commission. It was also found that payments received from new investments were being utilized to pay out the monthly returns to the old investors. Amber Dalal diverted the funds received in Ritz’s account to personal accounts, which were further routed to family members’ accounts and used for creating assets. He has diverted approximately Rs. 51 Crore to his personal accounts, said the ED. These funds were used to acquire assets in India and abroad. Eight such immovable properties in India and two abroad have been identified.
ED said that they found that, other than through banking channels, investments were made in cash as well, which was then infused into the books as accommodation entries in connivance with Mumbai-based jewelers. Returns on such cash-based investments were given to investors in India and abroad (including the UK, UAE) by hawala operators.
