Gulf Indians among victims of AED1b Ponzi scheme

|TAP Special|Indians living in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other GCC countries along with those in the US are among the victims of an Indian wealth management scheme gone bust.

They are among the 5,000 investors who had parked their money with the wealth management schemes of Prashant Wasankar, who has been arrested as the main accused in one of the biggest Ponzi schemes. The amount involved is estimated to be about AED 1 billion.

According to Times of India, a majority of the victims in India hail from middle class along with pensioners. The schemes also attracted the professional, such as doctors, engineers, chartered accountants, central and state employees. The victims include a couple of lawyers, who have moved the courts against the accused.

Sleuths investigating the case say that the accused had illegally diverted investors’ money to their personal accounts and other companies of Wasankar Group and also evaded income tax. They had also recruited many agents to market their schemes, promising incredible returns of 150% on deposits.