Rs 500 crore fraud: Firm under CBI lens

New Delhi: The CBI has initiated investigation into an online ponzi scheme that duped people to the tune of Rs 500 crore. The scheme was floated by a Ghaziabad-based firm, Webwork Trade Links.

The complaint, which is now part of an FIR, also named Bollywood stars like Shahrukh Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who were the brand ambassadors for the company’s web portal, Addsbook.Com.

The FIR states the two promoters of Webwork Trade Links, Anurag Jain and Sandesh Verma, started “shadow company”, Addsbook Marketing Pvt, in December 10, 2016, with both Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Shahrukh Khan as its brand ambassadors. People invested heavily in the scheme as they were influenced by both celebrities, the FIR adds.

But the UP police, which initially investigated the case, has not named the two actors either as accused or suspects. According to the FIR, the two promoters took money from the public by offering them huge financial incentives for every click on advertisements on their website naming it the “click and earn plan”.

The company collected around Rs 500 crore from nearly two lakh people. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over the case following directions from the Allahabad high court and lodged a fresh First Information Report (FIR)  against the promoters under the Information Technology Act.