Booking a cab through an app has now become quite commonplace in India. Taking advantage of this, 47-year-old Daisey Menon started a fake cab aggregator company named ‘Hello Taxi’.
As the director, she induced around 1000 people to invest in the bogus firm with a promise of returns of up to 200%. In the beginning, the company paid returns to build investor confidence but later closed their offices and fled with Rs.250 crore, reports Times Now News.
The police investigated the case after receiving a complaint against a company named SMP Impex and its directors. One of them Rajesh Mahto was arrested in August, Rs.3.2 crore in their bank account was frozen and 60 new Hyundai Xcent cars worth Rs 3.5 crore were seized. The woman was arrested in Goa.
The Times of India quoted OP Mishra, joint commissioner of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police saying,
“The directors of the accused company actively induced the victims to part with their money on the pretext of high returns by investing their funds into Hello Taxi company. The alleged company accepted bookings from the investors without taking approval from the concerned authorities like RBI/SEBI.”
He added, “The locations of the company also changed frequently to trap fresh victims. Initially, it started its operation from Ghaziabad, and after some months, it was shifted to Patparganj and then to Rohini. The accused fooled the public by organizing event meetings and seminars at five-star hotels and employed smart people to create a false aura around their victims.”
It has become more important than ever to scrutinize where exactly where we’re investing our hard-earned money.