As Gujarat’s monsoon assembly session stormed into session, Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani hit the government with a bombshell: over the past two years, 81 scam complaints were filed under the Gujarat Protection of Interest of Deposits Act, 2003, exposing staggering investor losses of ₹402.21 crore. Yet, pusillanimously, officials managed to recover an astonishingly paltry ₹7.53 crore, barely 2% of the trapped funds by seizing and auctioning assets from just two companies. The assembly’s shocked silence highlighted a massive, unresolved crisis for duped investors.
Financial Catastrophes: From Ponzi to Crypto Fantasies
While the current recovery figures remain dismal, they follow two seismic scams that shook Gujarat in recent years. First, in 2024, Bhupendrasinh Zala, CEO of BZ Group, orchestrated a ₹6,000 crore Ponzi scheme, drawing over 14,000 investors with promises of double returns and steady monthly payouts. Authorities unearthed transactions worth ₹175 crore linked to the illegal BZ Financial Services. Then, earlier this year in 2025, a crypto-based scam unfolded via Blockora, which duped 8,000 investors, including around 40 from Rajkot, of ₹300 crore by pushing a fake cryptocurrency called TABC. Investors were lured by claims of daily payouts until the founders vanished overnight, leaving disaster in their wake.
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Accountability Crisis: Investors Still in Limbo
The disproportionate gap between the money lost and the amount recovered paints a stark picture: Gujarat’s victims remain largely uncompensated as justice moves at a snail’s pace. Although assets were seized and auctioned, the retrieval strategy has proven ineffective—limited in scope and constrained in impact. Investor confidence is unraveling, with the public demanding more robust measures, faster asset tracing, and better inter-agency coordination. Critics are calling for systemic reform, urging the government to broaden recovery efforts, pursue all defaulters aggressively, and ensure that the Gujarat Protection of Interest of Deposits Act delivers meaningful protection—not paperwork. As investors continue their painful wait, the state must show urgency and accountability—or risk further loss of faith.
