Ponzi scheme operator Zala collected Rs 450 cr from 11k investors: Police

Alleged ponzi scheme operator Bhupendrasinh Zala collected Rs 450 crore from 11,000 investors through 17 offices he set up across Gujarat between 2020 and 2024, a police official said on Monday.

Zala, a resident of Himmatnagar town of Sabarkantha, was held from Mehsana district on December 27 after being on the run for almost a month. He is in police custody till January 4. During interrogation, it was revealed that Zala, through his entity BZ Financial Services, collected Rs 450 crore from unsuspecting investors by offering them unusually high returns on deposits, said Deputy Inspector General of Police (CID-Crime) Parikshita Rathod. "He opened 17 branches across Gujarat to target investors. Our investigation has found he collected Rs 450 crore in four years and then purchased movable and immovable assets worth Rs 100 crore. Moreover, he did not pay Rs 100 crore to depositors as promised," she told reporters in Gandhinagar.  "So far, we have learnt that nearly 11,000 individuals had invested in schemes floated by Zala's firm. Of these, around 10 individuals had invested more than Rs 1 crore. Further investigation about his agents, modus operandi and assets is underway," said Rathod.  Apart from Zala, the state CID arrested seven persons, including his agents, in connection with a cheating case registered in November. As per the CID, Zala persuaded people to invest money in the schemes of his firm by offering an annual interest rate of 36 percent. A CID statement said Zala had opened offices in north Gujarat, Gandhinagar and Vadodara to collect deposits from unsuspecting people without having approval from the RBI or any other financial authority to do so. "His firms would initially pay investors the promised returns to win their trust before defaulting. He had also appointed agents on commission basis to lure investors," the CID statement said.