Accused Ravindra Nath Soni with UP police (Image credit: Dainik Bhaskar
The prime accused in the Dubai BlueChip Group scam and one of the UAE’s largest investment frauds was arrested in India on November 30 after 18 months.
The Indian origin man was identified as 44-year-old Ravindra Nath Soni, who was arrested by Uttar Pradesh police from Dehradun in Uttarakhand. A reward of Rs 10,000 had been announced for information leading to his arrest.
According to a report by Khaleej Times, additional deputy commissioner of Police Anjali Vishwakarma described the arrest as a “significant breakthrough”. She said a special team tracked Soni through technical and human surveillance before raiding his hideout in Dehradun and bringing him to Kanpur.
Vishwakarma added that Soni defrauded numerous victims by promising high monthly returns through his Dubai-based company BlueChip. The police officer further said that Soni is involved in three other cases of fraud.
The arrest comes more than a year after Khaleej Times exposed a major scam as part of its investigative series.
The BlueChip group scam came to light in June 2024, when an arrest warrant was issued against Soni by the Dubai Court of First Instance for failing to repay Dh10.05 million to a cheque-holder.
BlueChip, which operated from the Al Jawhara Building in Bur Dubai, promised investors guaranteed 3 percent monthly returns (36 percent annually) on a minimum investment of USD10,000 locked in for 18 months.
The scheme collapsed in March 2024 when payments suddenly stopped, leaving hundreds of UAE residents, many of them Indian expats, facing losses estimated to exceed USD100 million (Dh367 million).
Investors received bounced cheques, the office was abandoned overnight, and Soni vanished along with senior staff. The Blue Chip was the first of Soni’s fraudulent businesses. Between 2018 and 2020, he operated Acme Management Consultancy and Acme Global General Trading, which also disappeared after allegedly pocketing millions in investor funds.
Court records accessed by Khaleej Times show Soni was previously ordered by a Dubai court in 2023 to repay Dh2.05 million to another victim.
In India, he was arrested in 2022 in Aligarh for running a “double-your-money” scheme and faces separate charges in Panipat, Haryana, for fraud and criminal intimidation.
In May 2024, Khaleej Times reported that BlueChip had transferred USD 41.35 million to an unknown cryptocurrency wallet just days before the firm shut down. Separately, Cyprus-based trading platform provider MetaQuotes terminated its agreement with BlueChip in 2023, citing “fraudulent practices”.
This post was last modified on December 2, 2025 5:30 pm