The CBI has taken over the multi-crore Bike Bot scam in Uttar Pradesh in which about 2 lakh investors were allegedly duped of Rs 62,100 each in the name of providing bike taxis, officials said Monday.
In its FIR, the CBI has taken cognisance of the Uttar Pradesh government letter which had referred 11 FIRs of the Noida Police registered at Dadri for the central agency probe in December 2019, they said.
It was sent by the Department of Personnel and Trainign to the CBI in September this year.
The agency has booked 15 people — including Bike Bot CMD Sanjay Bhati and six more executives of the company and eight others– for allegedly luring 2 lakh investors to invest Rs 62,100 each for getting a bike taxi with assured income support, the officials cited above said.
The company floated a lucrative scheme of bike taxi in August 2017 known as Bike Bot.
“Under the scheme, the investor has to pay Rs, 62,100 attachment of one bike, its EMI was Rs. 5,175 per month, bike rent was Rs 4,590 per bike per month that is Rs. 1,17,180 per annum.
“The scheme included monthly rental income bonus at 5 per cent matching bonus income 10 per cent, renewal income and lastly rewards. lnvestors were free to attach as many bikes as they desire. Investors were in to invest money under multi-level marketing scheme,” the FIR said
The agency has alleged that investors from across India were duped by the company and Bhati, they said.
“…Under a preplanned conspiracy the respondent Sanjay Bhati and his associates have cheated and defrauded Investors and have collected at least 15 thousands crores of money across the country in the name of business of ‘BIKE BOT – THE BIKE TAXI POWERED BY GIPL’ and misappropriated the same,” the FIR has alleged.
The CBI, however, did not explain how it arrived at the figure of Rs 15,000 crore.
The role of then SSP of Gautam Budh Nagar, commonly known as Noida SP (Crime), in allegedly ignoring complaints against the company is also under the scanner of the agency, they said.
“Complaint were submitted and fraudulent activity of the company was in the knowledge of the Noida district authority’s as well as police authorities who did not take any action rather SSP and SP crime branch pressurized the complainants to withdraw their complaints,” the FIR alleged.
Investors, mostly retired and serving government officials, invested Rs 62,100 each in the “multi-level marketing” scheme that promised doubling the amount within a year, the Noida police Economic Offences Wing had said after registration of cases.
The Noida police had said company has nearly 7,000 bikes out of which 2,000 are registered and the rest unregistered. About 2.25 lakh people have invested Rs 62,100 each in the ponzi scheme, the total amounting to over Rs 1,300 crore.
