The Ponzis and the Scapegoats - II!!

There are many prowling Ponzis roaming around us yet this one is the concluding part of the series.

Peerless

A Peerless Ponzi scheme is like a Peerless IN pyramid scheme, but is restricted by one central figure. Rather than a business investment opportunity, a Indiana Ponzi scheme involves an obscure investment vehicle with an unreasonably high rate of return. Early investors are paid by the investments of later on investors. But fraud transaction records encourage them to believe that the investment itself is actually generating the promised rate of return.

Peerless is one of the few funds to have been able to buck the trend and grow its assets under management from scratch.

Sahara

Sahara India too began as a chit fund company in 1978. Chit funds are collective savings schemes practiced in India. Unlike large asset management companies, Chit Funds often have weaker regulatory supervision.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India has been able to find just 68 genuine investors from among the details of lakhs of investors the Sahara group has sent to its office.

These are the only people who have responded to mailers from the market regulator and sent complete details of their investment in the two schemes of Sahara India Real Estate Corporation and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation that the Supreme Court has asked to be refunded.

Rose Valley

A Rose Valley Ponzi scheme is like a Rose Valley NV pyramid scheme, but is restricted by one central figure. Rather than a business investment opportunity, a Nevada Ponzi scheme involves an obscure investment vehicle with an unreasonably high rate of return. Early investors are paid by the investments of later on investors. But fraud transaction records encourage them to believe that the investment itself is actually generating the promised rate of return.

In January 2011, Sebi had barred Rose Valley Real Estate & Constructions from raising public money and from launching any scheme with immediate effect. In an interim order, Sebi had also instructed Rose Valley Real Estate not to divert any fund raised from the public which is kept in a bank account or in the company's custody. This is also pending in court as Rose Valley challenged the order.

The market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) clamped down on Rose Valley Real Estates and Construction Limited for raising funds from the public, without a registration certificate for 'collective investment schemes'.

Saradha

Founded in 2006, the rise of Saradha Group has been meteoric. In the span of seven years the group diversified into several businesses including media, real estate, and automobiles. The Group also signed several high-profile sponsorship deals including  one of India’s oldest football teams.

In 2008, Sudipta Sen floated Saradha Realty India Limited which offered installment plans ranging from 12 to 60 months with minimum deposit of Rupees 100 per month with returns ranging from 12% to 24%. As the money began to flow in from the market, he floated several companies in several sectors attracting more investors. From 2010, Sen made major investments in media, buying several newspapers and TV channels.

Sudipta Sen, who rose from a small-time property dealer to lead the Saradha group, was arrested on April 23, after police tracked him down in Kashmir, where he was said to be hiding.

India has had a long history of such scams from which little lessons seems to have been drawn. In the eighties and nineties, several such firms went bust and thousands had their savings wiped out, but they hardly proved to be a deterrent. However, Bengal is the hotspot for most of the Ponzi Scheme.

!!!Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed -  Mahatma Gandhi!!!