Surat Investment Scam

The Surat Crime Branch’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) nabbed a scamster on June 29 for allegedly duping 44 investors of ₹8.11 crore. He promised them a 2% monthly return on their investments in forex trading, cryptocurrency, and a construction project.

As per internal EOW sources, Vijay Kanparia, a resident of Surat’s Amroli area, had started an office in the Sumul Dairy Road area in 2016 under the name of FCN Training Academy and launched an investment scheme named ‘Power One’.

Kanparia issued cheques and investment agreements in the name of the company to the investors against the money they invested. Investors could withdraw their money after a lock-in period of one year, and he had also paid initial returns to the investors.

In the meantime, he had opened three other offices.

Milan Katakiya, who ran an AC and refrigerator repairing business, and a former employee of Kanparia, invested a total of ₹37.64 lakh in the scheme.

He was paid a return of ₹18.97 lakh. Kanpariya later ran away with the remaining money after the Uttarayan festival in January. He also shut all his offices, absconding with the money of Katakiya and 43 other investors.

A deeper probe revealed that Kanparia had converted all the money into dollars through a software developer company named Star Line Solution based in Ahmedabad, and invested it in the forex market.

The EOW has nabbed the accused and obtained his three-day remand.