MLM firm fraud case: court extends custody of six accused

A local court today extended till July 23 the police custody of six out of eight accused arrested so far in connection with an alleged multi-crore embezzlement scam involving a city-based multi-level marketing (MLM) firm.
The case pertains to alleged duping of thousands of investors, mostly from rural areas across Maharashtra, allegedly by now-defunct KBC Multi-trade Pvt Ltd over the last four years.
Two prime suspects, namely Bhausaheb Chavan, the founder of the company, and his wife Arati are absconding and believed to be in Singapore. Local police had already written to the state CID to initiate steps in this regard.

Six of the eight accused arrested so far and whose remand was extended today are: Bapusaheb Chavan, his wife Sadhana, Manager of the firm Pankaj Shinde, driver Nitin Shinde, one Nana Chavan and a policeman Sanjay Jagtap, said police inspector Anil Pawar.
Two other accused, namely Bharati Shiledar, who is the sister-in-law of the prime suspect, and one Kaushalya Jagtap, arrested from neighbouring Ahmed Nagar district, are likely to be produced before the court on July 23, Pawar said.
City police have so far received more than 3,000 complaints from investors claiming that they were lured with foreign trips and attractive returns by Chavan before being duped.

Chavan used to operate from a posh office located in Adgaon area.

Earlier this month, a staff nurse working with civil hospital here, who had invested money with the KBC, committed suicide on July 15 along with her 22-year-old son who was working as an agent for the company.
Meanwhile, a roadside vendor, who had reportedly invested Rs 5 lakh in the firm, attempted suicide at his residence yesterday over loss of money. Yashwant Badgujar tried to take his own life by consuming poisonous substance and was rushed to a hospital.
According to police, he had taken loan from a bank to invest in KBC but has become frustrated as the lender prodded him to pay the instalments.