Mumbai: Businessman wanted for duping investors of Rs 684 cr held

Mumbai:  A 55-year-old businessman hailing from Nepal wanted for allegedly duping investors to the tune of Rs 684 crore with ponzi schemes was nabbed by Mumbai Crime Branch, an official said on Tuesday.

Nandlal Kesar Singh, chairman of the Phenomenal group of companies, was detained from a five-star hotel in south Mumbai by the Crime Branch’s Unit VII on Sunday, and was later handed over to the Economic Offences Wing ( EOW) of Latur police, which had registered a case in 2018 under section 420, 468, 471, 409 and 34 of IPC and section 3 of Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act, the official said.

“Singh was absconding since 2018 and was changing his location across states to evade arrest. He had also stayed in the United States of America and the United Kingdom over the past two years, as well as in his native Dhangadhi in west Nepal. He then shifted to Noida and was staying in hotels in Mumbai and Delhi by booking it in various names, including that of his wife,” he added.

He is accused of getting people to invest in his firms, namely Phenomenal Housing Finance Ltd, Phenomenal Plantation Ltd, Phenomenal Healthcare Services etc, by promising them lucrative returns and then reneging on agreements and duping them of Rs 684 crore, the Crime Branch official said.

“Singh has been named in cases filed in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala, where a lookout notice was also issued for him. He has been handed over to Latur police for further action,” said Datta Nalawade, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection -1), Mumbai