The EOW of Mumbai police arrested Pankaj Shah the multi-level online marketing company that is being investigated for cheating thousands of investors of an estimated Rs2,300 crore.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai police on Tuesday arrested Pankaj Shah, former chief operating officer (COO) of SpeakAsia, the multi-level online marketing company that is being investigated for cheating thousands of investors of an estimated Rs2,300 crore.
Shah was produced before the Esplanade metropolitan magistrate’s court and remanded in police custody till Friday.
Police say Shah was among the first promoters of the company and as COO, was responsible for setting up its business model. He is expected to be a useful witness in the probe.
He is now one of the directors of the Direct Marketing Association of India and resides in Wadala. Shah is a qualified bio-chemist and had earlier worked with a reputed hospital in Mumbai.
“As per our investigations, Shah was also the first country-head of SpeakAsia and operated from Mumbai. He was also in direct touch with the main accused Harinder Kaur (SpeakAsia’s international head) and Manoj Sharma (India CEO),” said an EOW officer, who requested anonymity.
Shah was subsequently replaced by Tarak Bajpai. Bajpai was arrested in July last year, within days after complaints of the scam were made to the authorities.
Police sources said Shah is said to have coordinated between the panellists and franchisees and was instrumental in setting up the company.
“He has been named in the main conspiracy. In his defence, Shah has claimed that he too was cheated by the company and that he had to quit the company when he learned about their fraudulent motives,” an official said.
With the arrest of Shah, police have been able to get 13 people associated with the case. The EOW estimates that between 8 lakh and 10 lakh people across the country registered in SpeakAsia’s schemes and have lost large amounts.
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