The Enforcement Directorate (ED) of the Government of India has provisionally attached movable and 376 immovable properties worth over ₹2.68 billion ($34.91m) in the Akshaya Gold Farms & Villas India Limited (AGFVIL) Ponzi scam case. The attached properties are in the name of AGFVIL and its related entities, its directors, relatives of directors and their benamidars.
ED’s investigation revealed that AGFVIL willfully cheated the public by collecting deposits without any legal permission from the authorities. The company collected investments from 1.917 million gullible investors lured by organized agents who received commission to enroll new clients. The company implemented a pyramid scheme to build a hierarchy of agents who strived to earn high commissions. These agents lured investors into investing their life savings by promising sites in advertised real estate ventures and offering high returns in deposit schemes.
The investigation further revealed that the company had diverted the investors’ money into companies of promoters and family members. The directors had also used some funds to purchase personal properties or withdrawn some funds in the form of commissions. Overall, the company illegally collected over ₹8.57 billion ($111.65m). Of this amount, AGFVIL has failed to return nearly ₹3.84 billion ($50.03m) to its victims. ED has identified the properties purchased from the proceeds of crime and issued a provisional attachment order.