Mastermind of 'Speak Asia' fraud arrested

Arrested made on Monday from Connaught Place

In a major catch, Ram Sumiran Pal, an alleged mastermind of the over Rs 2,200-crore 'Speak Asia' online marketing firm scam in which around 24 lakh gullible Indians were duped has been arrested by Delhi police.

37-year-old Pal, a resident of Shahajanpur in Uttar Pradesh who was on the run for the last 28 months, was arrested yesterday from Connaught Place after months of sustained investigation by a Crime Branch team led by DCP Kumar Gyanesh, police said today.

Pal and his brother Ram Niwas Pal, who duped people through a online marketing firm, also had Bollywood links as leading stars would perform at lavish functions held by them for investors and agents to lure more people and the siphoned off money was then also invested in many films, police said.

"He (Pal) was involved in a number of white collar crimes. He was in hiding in Dehradun and is wanted in at least eights cases of Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh. He is one of the masterminds of the 'Speak Asia' scam and has also created a number of companies with his brother in order to cheat lakhs of innocent people," said Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav.

Both the brothers Ram Sumiran Pal and Ram Niwas Pal became part of the top management of multi-level marketing companies registered in foreign countries like Singapore, Italy and Brazil, which by their international profile, attracted more investors and also helped them in money laundering at a later stage, police said.

A company namely Speak Asia, registered in Singapore, was introduced in India in early 2010 by these two brothers with the help of one Manoj Sharma.

Speak Asia was an online survey marketing company which sold web subscription for Rs 11000 each and in return the investor had to fill survey forms, which were later found to be fake, for certain MNCs for promised annual payment of Rs 52000. After paying few initial investors, Speak Asia wrapped up its operation in India around mid-2011.

According to police, 'Speak Asia' had remitted over Rs 900 crore to Singapore. The money was sent from India to the banks in Singapore and from there to Dubai, Italy and UK. However, the money came back from UK again to UAE (Dubai) and to India.

Ram Sumiran Pal is the first senior office bearer of 'Speak Asia' to be arrested in the matter, said Yadav.