Deputy Inspector-Basic of Police, Felony Investigation Division, Bheemashankar S. Guled has urged most people to not put money into ponzi schemes.
Consciousness among the many public in regards to the illegality of such schemes and the hazards posed by them is important to guard their pursuits, Dr. Guled informed reporters in Belagavi on Sunday.
“Now we have discovered that regardless of the arrest of Shivanand Neelannavar, promoter of Shivam Associates, who’s dealing with the cost of working a ponzi scheme value crores of rupees with out regulatory approvals, individuals proceed to deposit cash with the agency.
“Therefore, the necessity for this warning. We enchantment to the individuals to be very cautious with their monetary administration. They need to not belief any company that doesn’t have regulatory approvals. They need to not make investments or deposit cash in any company linked with Shivam Associates or different such businesses,” he stated.
He stated that the State authorities has taken steps to freeze withdrawals from the accounts of Shivam Associates whereas credit are nonetheless open.
“We discover that some individuals are not solely investing cash but additionally convincing others to take action. It is a harmful follow and it ought to cease,” he stated.
“We strongly request the general public to not switch any funds to Shivam Associates,” he stated.
The Deputy Inspector-Basic of Police stated that Shivam Associates doesn’t have permission to hunt or accumulate public deposits or make investments them out there or wherever else. It has no approvals from RBI, SEBI or different businesses and no authorized authority to gather deposits from the general public.
“Individuals must be cautious of any particular person or company promising extraordinary returns within the vary of 36%, 60% or greater annual rates of interest. They’re neither possible nor are permitted underneath RBI rules,” he stated.
Shivanand Neelannavar described the funds obtained from buyers as “hand loans”. Nonetheless, following a latest Excessive Court docket order, all such cash collected quantities to deposits and may appeal to the provisions of the Karnataka Safety of Curiosity of Depositors (KPID) Act.
“It’s a traditional ponzi scheme the place funds collected from new buyers are used to pay returns to earlier buyers. The promise of upper returns attracts individuals. The scheme continues so long as recent cash retains coming in. As soon as new investments cease, such a pyramid inevitably collapses. The individuals want to know this,” Dr. Guled stated.
Based on him, preliminary investigations revealed that Shivam Associates has collected at the very least ₹2,400 crore from 40,700 buyers since 2016.
Of this, a considerable quantity has been distributed as curiosity and payouts. Nonetheless, CID officers discovered no proof of any authentic enterprise exercise producing income ample to assist the promised returns.
“The query stays, the place was the revenue coming from? The one reply appears to be that funds to buyers had been being produced from recent deposits obtained from new buyers,” he stated.
The probe confirmed that ₹540 crore of investor cash was invested within the inventory market. Of this, roughly ₹170 crore was misplaced after the employees of Shivam Associates exited their positions at losses.
CID officers discovered that a big a part of the funds was diverted into numerous different companies, although the income generated had been meagre.
There appears to be a shortfall of practically ₹660 crore within the scheme. Nonetheless, officers have detected property value over ₹400 crore, together with 250 grams of gold, gained by the promoters.
“It is a huge investigation involving hundreds of transactions and tens of hundreds of buyers. It is going to take time. As and when proof emerges, each transaction and each beneficiary will probably be investigated,” Dr. Guled stated.
The investigation discovered some transfers from the agency’s accounts to private accounts. CID officers said that ₹55 crore was transferred from firm accounts into Shivanand Neelannavar’s private accounts.
The company discovered that at the very least 19 luxurious automobiles had been bought “utilizing public cash”.
A few of these property have been secured. There’s proof to point out that an extra ₹300 crore could also be recovered by financial institution accounts, gold jewelry, luxurious automobiles and actual property property linked to the accused and his associates.
The CID is issuing notices to people who obtained payouts from Shivam Associates.
“If any particular person has obtained extra money than they initially invested — whether or not termed curiosity, referral fee, incentive or by some other identify, such quantity could also be subjected to restoration as per regulation. We may also subject notices to varied people and entities that obtained funds from Shivam Associates to collect additional data concerning funds stream,” he stated.
The State authorities has appointed Amlan Aditya Biswas because the Competent Authority underneath the KPID Act. He’ll oversee attachment, liquidation and eventual distribution of recovered property to eligible buyers.
The transactions of Shivam Associates have unfold over 30 banks. All of them are being studied. Seven accounts have been recognized as having significantly excessive transaction volumes.
“In a single account alone, the financial institution assertion reportedly runs to greater than 36,000 pages. All related paperwork and findings will probably be shared with the Earnings Tax Division and the Enforcement Directorate for additional motion,” he stated.
Revealed – June 07, 2026 07:53 pm IST
