Pune: Nineteen people, mostly ex-servicemen , have been duped of Rs72.75 lakh in an investment fraud between January 2023 and April, police said. The crime comes close on the heels of a similar investment con wherein 262 citizens, mostly ex-servicemen, were cheated of Rs26.
41 crore in the city. The Chandannagar police have registered a case against five people, including a woman, from Nashik, Mumbai and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The individuals claimed to be trading in cryptocurrencies through a Kharadi firm, which shut shop overnight after collecting investments from the 19 victims.
The firm in Kharadi had conducted workshops and promised the victims that their investments would be doubled in just 20 months. One of the victims (40), a retired army personnel who hails from Pangare village in Purandar tehsil, lodged a complaint in this regard. One of the suspects, hailing from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, is also a retired army personnel, police said.
He and the complainant came in contact through a common friend. The suspects told the victim and others about their company and investment plans. They invited the investors to participate in workshops conducted in Kharadi and Lonavla.
The fraudsters promised 10% returns per month on normal investment and double the invested amount if people bought cryptocurrency . The complainant told TOI that the suspects claimed the company would bring their own cryptocurrency and conducted an event regarding it in Goa. “After attending the wo.