Pune: The Hinjewadi police are searching for four members of one family, who have allegedly duped at least 22 people of a total of nearly Rs4.2 crore, after luring them with the promise of supplying 5% monthly returns on their investments.The accused collected the money from the victims between May 2023 and March this year. Initially, said the police, they gave some amount of returns to a few of the victims, but later stopped entirely. When the victims started pursuing them for their money, the accused locked up their office and house and fled.A lawyer from Hinjewadi, who lost Rs57 lakh to this scam, on Saturday lodged a complaint with the Hinjewadi police.The police registered the case against the accused persons under sections 316 (criminal breach of trust), 318 (cheating), and 112 (petty organised crime) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), as well as relevant sections of the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act.Assistant inspector Somnath Panchal of the Hinjewadi police told TOI that the accused include a man, his wife, and their two sons. They had their residence as well as office located in the Maan area near Hinjewadi. “The accused used to bait potential investors by offering 5% returns per month on their investments made through their company. They used to claim that they would invest this money into the stock market,” Panchal said.The officer said that the accused also collected the money from the investors under the pretext of a ‘bhishi’ (rotating savings fund). “Between May 2023 and March 2026, the complainant from Hinjewadi invested Rs57 lakh with the accused, while 21 other people had collectively invested Rs3.6 crore with them,” the officer said.Panchal said that when the accused stopped giving returns to the investors, they started pursuing them for their money. The police were approached when it was discovered that the accused had locked their properties and fled. “We are searching for them,” Panchal said.
