One half of Nadeem-Shravan duo allegedly made off with crores after floating bogus investment schemes
One half of Nadeem-Shravan duo allegedly made off with crores after floating bogus investment schemesu00a0
The season of scams, so far restricted to politicos, just drew out a bit wider, to ensnare musicians from tinsel town in its net.
Shravan Rathod, one half of Bollywood music director duo, Nadeem-Shravan, is back in the news. He has been accused of a huge scam involving crores of rupees by looting thousands of people.
Shravan along with five other associates opened a website https://www.mbusinessasia.com/ in October 2009. The company's headquarters were in Andheri.
The website enumerated a number of investment schemes through which people could make lakhs of rupees, get cars and insurance.
But earlier this month, one of the investors, Mritunjaya Kumar from Ranchi, filed a complaint along with 10 other investors at the Ranchi Chief Judicial Magistrate Court of being cheated of Rs 1,67,500 collectively by Shravan and company, which shut operations two months after it opened.
According to the complaint, Shravan and associates Vishal Bhagat and Kesari Singh had gone to Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Kanpur and other places to promote the various schemes. Kumar said, "Shravan and company had come here last October and explained the schemes.
They promised us money under different schemes but we never got it. We waited for two months and since then, we have not been able to get in touch with them.
He also said that there were thousands like them in various towns who were swindled. "They had a number of schemes under which people had invested crores of rupees. I know some 500 people from Ranchi itself who were duped. The 11 of us have come forward but thousands want their money back."
He added that some investors, tempted by his seemingly profitable schemes, had gone to the extent of taking loans to fund the investment, and are indebted now. "We never thought that someone of his reputation would cheat us. A number of people invested huge amounts with him.
Some had even taken loans for it. Many people have left their towns and run away as they cannot face the moneylenders or their families," Kumar said.
There are a number of schemes listed on the pamphlets they distributed: The first scheme, the most elaborate one, had a hierarchy of investment categories basic, bronze, silver, gold, diamond, platinum, and titanium.
The basic scheme
The basic scheme was of Rs 10,000, bronze (Rs 20,000), silver (Rs 40,000), gold (Rs 80,000), diamond (Rs 1.6 lakh), platinum (Rs 3.2 lakh) and titanium (Rs 6.4 lakh)
But the investor had to invest only a fourth of the amount under every scheme. In return, the scheme promised, they would get gold or platinum jewellery and an insurance policy.
To elaborate, if a person invested in the basic scheme, he would have to pay a quarter of Rs 10,000, that is, Rs 2,500. Of this, they would get R75 the first month as return.
This amount would keep doubling every month from Rs 75 to Rs 150 to Rs 300, until it reached Rs 3,07,125 for the whole year. There were four other schemes to lure possible investors.
Ek Cutting!Bhishi (BC)Each of 10 or more players contributes a recurring sum to a common pool. Say Rs 1,000 a month. This means a collection of Rs 10,000 a month. Each player hopes to hit the monthly jackpot. One form of bhishi is to hold a lottery to decide the winner. The more common practice is the auction. Two or three of the members get desperate to have some money. They bid for the Rs 10,000. But the bidding is in reverse the money goes to the one who bids the lowest. The sum he loses is divided among the remaining players.
About Shravan RathodOne half of the once-ruling music director duo in Bollywood, Nadeem Shravan, Shravan Rathod, with his partner, composed the soundtrack for many hit movies like Aashiqui, Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin, and Raaz. In 1997, the duo ran into negative publicity when Nadeem, while on vacation in London was accused of the murder of former mentor, Gulshan Kumar, the boss of T-Series music company. In 2002, Nadeem Saifi was acquitted by a court in Bombay and stayed back in the UK.u00a0 In 2005, the duo split and Shravan focussed on other projects.
| The Other Side |
| Vishal Bhagat, one of Shravan's business associates, said "We had paid money by draft to every person who had invested. No one has been left out. The man who has filed the case is a cheat as he has his eyes set on a Scorpio car.
u00a0
They want cheap publicity by dragging Shravan's name into this. We had started this business all over the country and a number of people had come forward. But since we did not get registered, we shut the company within two months." MiD DAY asked to speak to Shravan, but Bhagat said, "He is not well and cannot speak. He is a well-known, reputable person. He even wanted to open a music school in Ranchi, but these people are slinging mud on his name." |
