In Gujarat, the police have arrested Bhupendrasinh Zala, the CEO of BZ Financial Services, a company involved in a huge scam that tricked thousands of investors, including some well-known cricketers. Zala had been hiding for weeks and was finally caught in a village in Mehsana district.
A police official from the CID Crime Branch said, “More details will be shared once he reaches our office in Gandhinagar.” So far, seven other people have also been arrested in this case.
Zala’s company is accused of running a Ponzi scheme, where they promised investors annual returns of 30-35%—which is much higher than what most banks offer. They didn’t have the necessary approvals to operate this scheme. To attract investors, Zala offered gifts like vacations in Goa, mobile phones, and televisions.
Authorities have identified at least 2,500 people who invested in the scheme, and they’ve found that some cricketers are also involved, investing several crores of rupees. The total amount lost in this scam might be around ₹6,000 crore.
The police began investigating after receiving complaints and recently raided several of Zala’s offices when rumors of the investigation started spreading. Most of these offices closed once people learned about the police investigation.
Zala, who lives in Himmatnagar taluka in Sabarkantha district, had a lookout notice issued against him earlier this month. The Gujarat High Court did not grant him bail last week, as prosecutors claimed he had received ₹360 crore in various accounts. They said he withdrew most of this money before the police could freeze his accounts, leaving only ₹1 crore behind.
So far, the CID has seized about 18 properties linked to Zala, valued at around ₹100 crore.
Ponzi schemes trick people by using money from new investors to pay earlier investors instead of generating real profits. They often lure victims with promises of quick and high returns. Though it seems to work at first, the scheme collapses when there aren’t enough new investors to keep it going or when too many people try to take their money out at once.
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