Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday arrested two persons with regards to a scam worth Rs 1500 crore through a pyramid scheme of their venture Indus Viva Multi-Level Marketing.
The accused identified as CA Anzar and Abhilash Thomas were arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PML- A) of 2002. An investigation has been launched after the Gachibowli police registered the case. Thomas and Anzar are the founders of Indus Viva multi-level marketing, who lured a number of people to rigorous marketing about commission schemes stating that there was a great opportunity to make quick and easy money.
They portrayed their company as a legitimate venture, introducing their own products and setting the share value at 20%, which turned out to be fake. The membership fee paid by new clients was used to pay commission to old clients. By giving false promises and inducements, the company enrolled around 10 lakh members and collected around Rs 1500 crore since its inception.
According to a press release by the ED, it was revealed that Anzar and Thomas, who are residents of Bengaluru, floated subsidiary ventures in Indus Viva Group and diverted funds to these entities while also blatantly transferring the funds into their personal accounts.