ED charge-sheets Amber Dalal in ?564 cr Ponzi scam

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has submitted its charge-sheet against Amber Dalal, owner of Ritz Consultancy Services, who allegedly defrauded investors of ?564 crore through his company by running a Ponzi scheme and using new investments to pay returns to earlier investors. The accused is presently in judicial custody.

ED initiated its investigation based on a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Oshiwara police station, on March 15, 2024, which was later transferred to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police.

The probe found that Dalal collected investments from over 2,000 individuals in the name of commodity trading, promising returns of between 1.5-1.8% per month, although he was neither a registered broker/ sub-broker/ investment advisor with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), nor was he authorised to collect funds from investors/ public.

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He subsequently diverted a significant portion of the funds for personal use, including purchase of assets and unrelated purposes. Funds were routed through multiple bank accounts belonging to Dalal and his family members and associates to conceal their origin, the ED found.

In the charge-sheet submitted in a special court on Thursday, ED has identified the money raised by Dalal’s firm from investors, ?564 crore, as proceeds of crime. A significant portion of the funds were used to purchase properties in the name of his family members, while funds worth ?15.04 crore were diverted to a close acquaintance, Rashmi Prasad, ED’s probe found.

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The investigation agency has provisionally attached assets worth around ?67 crore in the case, including a property located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). These assets – including immovable properties, bank funds, DEMAT holdings, insurance policies, investments in alternative funds – are in the names of Dalal, his relatives and associates, said agency sources.

The ED has sought confiscation of the attached assets even as further probe is underway to recover the defrauded amount and identify the roles of other persons.