Mumbai Crime: QNet scamsters back in action, cheat woman of Rs 2.8 lakh

Highprofile arrests made in the multilevel marketing scam QNet have not been able to deter the perpetrators from surfacing once again and cheating people through virtual platforms The latest victim of the scam has revealed that it still exists and people involved in it have been siphoning off lakhs of rupeesNavi Mumbai resident Swati K 27 met one of the independent representatives IRs of the marketing scheme Srikant Dwivedi winner of Rubaru Mr India 2017 and a finalist of Mr Global 2017 on social media in February last year During their conversations he told Swati that she could earn good money by investing in a startup businessldquoI had no job then so I took a loan and borrowed some money from friends and raised R280 lakh I used this money to subscribe to Vtube and Tripsavr a holiday package In return I was made to sit for a number of webinars and zoom calls of which Srikant was a partrdquo said Swati Following this she was asked to get her family members to invest in the schemes but she refusedFriend roped inThen Srikant allegedly asked her to get some of her friends to invest in the schemes so that she could earn some commission Thereafter Swati roped in her friend Parisha Patel who invested Rs 280 lakhSrikant Dwivedi PicFacebookldquoAs I was not earning any commission I started asking Srikant what the matter was When I did not get any response I asked for my money back but he refused saying a refund was not possible That is when I realised that I had been cheated Both Parisha and I filed police complaintsrdquo she addedldquoEarlier seminars and meetings of investors used to happen but after police started conducting raids the scamsters started cheating people online Instead of meeting investors in person they use different apps which helps them leave no trace behindrdquo said Gurupreet Singh Anand whose complaint had led to the arrest of the QNet team leaders in 2013ldquoThere are hundreds of people out there who have been defrauded but they donrsquot want to come forward I am in the process of sending a legal notice to the perpetrators of the QNet scam to get my money backrdquo added SwatiSpeaking to midday Gurupreet Anand secretary Financial Frauds Victims Welfare Association FFVWA said ldquoThe QNet scam is surviving in India because of corruption political patronage and judicial delay The Government of India needs to wake up and take concrete steps against such money laundering schemes Government officers and defence personnel are handinglove with these scamsters especially through their wives and family members according to the Serious Frauds Investigation reportrdquoWhen midday reached out to Srikant he said ldquoI am really surprised that a complaint has been made against me We are following all the procedures while doing business I have represented India in other countries and wonrsquot be associated with anything that is illegalrdquoHowever Shatrughna Mali senior inspector at Kharghar police station said ldquoWe have received the complaint regarding QNet The matter is being investigated After a detailed inquiry we will file a caserdquo2013Year when the QNet team leaders had been arrestedThe scamQNet is a multilevel marketing or direct selling company having a binary pyramid business model that is banned in India The independent representatives IRs would approach people with their products mdash ranging from biodiscs watches herbal goods and holiday packages The consumer can only take the product if they add more people under them as IRs and the chain would continue In this the IRs earn a hefty commission whenever a member is added The Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police had arrested former billiards champion Michael Ferreira and 29 others in connection with the scam in 2013