District judge loses Rs 13.5 lakh in online investment scam

Nagpur, Mar 12 (PTI) A judge from Nagpur lost Rs 13.5 lakh in an online investment scam committed through an investment platform, leading to the registration of a case and launch of an investigation, police said on Wednesday.

According to police, several investors were primarily tricked by the firm which lured people with high returns.

Police suspect it was a Ponzi scheme scam where fraudsters typically lure people with 8 per cent to 28 per cent returns and then vanish with their money.

One of the victims of the scam is district and sessions court judge Kapesh Vijay More who lost Rs 13.5 lakh, Ambazari police station officials said.

Police registered a case against Amardeep Kumar, Managing Director of Falcon Invoice Discounting and a user who operated the private bank account of Capital Protection Force Pvt Ltd.

Police said the judge learned about the investment platform from a close relative who had been investing for four to five years and making good profits. After seeing his relative's success, he decided to invest.

The complainant stated that the judge invested more than Rs 13.5 lakh in multiple transactions between January and February. He initially earned profit which was credited to his transaction account, police said.

When the amount of Rs 1 lakh he had separately invested on February 3 was not credited into his account, Judge More tried to contact the company but no one responded. Even the helpline was unavailable, and his relative also stopped answering calls, police said.

Once the judge realised he had been cheated, he lodged a complaint at Ambazari police station. An FIR was registered and the investigation is underway. PTI COR NSK