Mumbai: A Mumbai sessions court has rejected the bail applications of three accused in an alleged ₹100 crore investment fraud believed to have cheated more than 500 investors. The court’s decision is expected to strengthen the ongoing investigation into the multi-crore financial scam, in which the accused allegedly lured people with promises of exceptionally high returns within a short period.
Bail Pleas Rejected
The accused, Ankit Deepak Jain, Omkar Singh and Hetul Ranka, are facing allegations of inducing investors to put large sums of money into investment schemes by assuring them that their money would either double quickly or generate substantial guaranteed returns.
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According to the complainants, investors were repeatedly told that their money was safe and risk-free. Many allegedly invested life savings, retirement benefits, provident fund and gratuity amounts, while some broke fixed deposits or borrowed money to join the scheme.
Investors Face Heavy Losses
After the promised investment period expired, complainants alleged that neither the principal amount nor the assured returns were paid back. Hundreds of families were left under severe financial stress.
Several victims reportedly faced difficulties in meeting household expenses, children’s education costs, medical bills and bank loan repayments.
An FIR has been registered by the Mumbai Crime Branch’s Property Cell under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act, 1999.
Money Trail Under Probe
During the bail hearing, counsel representing the complainants argued that the case involved a serious economic offence affecting hundreds of investors and that the investigation into financial transactions was still underway.
After considering the submissions and investigation records, the sessions court rejected the bail pleas of all three accused.
Investigators are now focusing on tracing the complete money trail to identify the ultimate beneficiaries of the alleged fraud. Complainants have urged authorities to examine all financial transactions, investigate every person and entity that benefited from the funds, and initiate proceedings under the MPID Act to attach properties and recover investors’ money.
Officials also believe that additional victims may come forward, potentially increasing both the number of complainants and the total amount involved.
Legal experts say courts generally treat large-scale financial frauds as serious economic offences because they undermine public confidence and affect a large number of people. Bail decisions in such cases often consider the gravity of allegations, stage of investigation, risk of evidence tampering and interests of affected investors.
Authorities have advised investors linked to the accused individuals, their companies or associated schemes to submit receipts, agreements, bank statements, online transaction records, emails, WhatsApp messages and other relevant documents to investigators.
