Risk hai to ishq hai (taking risk is an integral part of love). A web series on the life of stock market scamster Harshad made this quote popular last year. Many of them who did not know the ‘Big Bull’ before learned about him. But neither the web series highlighting Mehta’s wrongdoings nor the timely warnings through advertisements issued by the government about several financial scams managed to deter common investors from giving wrong advice and falling into the trap of these swindlers. Huh.
The latest such incident has come to the fore in Barsi area of Solapur district of Maharashtra. A person named Vishal Bhagya is called Harshad Mehta Barsi has been accused of duping crores of rupees from rich and educated people on the pretext of doubling the money in three months. Vishal runs an investment company named Alka Services in Barshi. Through this and through two other companies, he allegedly duped investors.
Those whose money has been lost include government officials, doctors and businessmen.
Three months ago, Vishal had reportedly announced that a person investing Rs 10 lakh would get Rs 6 crore after a year. After this many interested people came forward. Vishal reportedly told investors that he is an expert in the financial market and invests the money after doing proper research and implementing algorithms. They clearly gave good returns to some investors which attracted others to their web.
Vishal allegedly switched off his cellphone on January 9 after taking crores of rupees from investors within a few months. This created panic among those who trusted him with their money. When no trace of him was found for a few days, people started registering complaints with the police. The authorities have now registered an FIR against five people including Vishal, his wife, his father and his brother.
The police were finding it difficult to get information about Vishal. But one day he suddenly put a video online and claimed that he had surrendered before the police. He has now reportedly said that he will not allow investors’ money to sink and will return it even if he goes to jail.
Vishal has claimed in this video that he earned Rs 4 lakh to Rs 54 lakh in a day. He also spoke about his knowledge of the trade. “Doctors or officials, all are my clients… they all know about my investments,” he said.
Read also | MP’s youth ‘inspired’ by infamous stockbroker Harshad Mehta, duped doctor, arrested
After his arrest, the court sent Vishal Fate to police remand till January 27. Officials have been sent to neighboring Karnataka and other parts of Maharashtra and more and more people are coming forward with complaints. Preliminary investigations suggest that the scam is worth over Rs 18 crore, though some have claimed that the amount involved could be hundreds of crores.
Police say that they are probing the matter from different angles and have started to trace the properties bought with the scam money. So far the purchase of a luxurious bungalow, a luxury car and land has been traced. The police is now preparing the list and records of all these properties so that the money of the investors can be returned.
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