Lucknow: The Economic Offences Wing of Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested the director and chief executive officer of V-Care Multitrade Private Limited in an alleged Rs 250-crore insurance and investment fraud that left hundreds of investors across several states facing losses.
The accused, Madhumita Kaur, was arrested from the Argora police station area of Ranchi in Jharkhand during a probe linked to a case registered at Krishna Nagar police station in Lucknow. After securing a transit remand from a Ranchi court, she was brought to Lucknow and produced before a local court.
According to investigators, as many as 26 criminal cases have been registered against Kaur and other individuals associated with the company in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Jharkhand.
The probe found that V-Care Multitrade, registered in Delhi and Haryana in 2008-09, later set up a regional office in Lucknow's Krishna Nagar area. The company allegedly lured customers into buying insurance policies from leading insurers by promising lucrative returns, then misappropriated their funds before shutting its offices and disappearing, the EOW alleged.
Investigators said the firm also ran a referral-based model under which customers were allegedly promised that the company would pay their second-year insurance premiums if they introduced new investors. The EOW suspects the model was used to expand the customer base, generate commissions and divert investor funds.
Further investigations are under way to identify the roles of other accused and trace the allegedly siphoned money. Investigators said the accused would be questioned further, and that they are examining how the firm's funds were routed across the states where the cases are registered.