Hyderabad: A case has been registered against multi-level marketing firm QNet, its franchisee Vihaan Direct Selling India Pvt Ltd and 11 individuals for allegedly duping a Bengaluru-based fitness professional in the name of direct selling, police said.
The Central Crime Station (CCS) registered the case based on a complaint by Sardar Sharanpal Singh, a fitness professional who was scouting for commercial space to set up a gym in Hyderabad or Bengaluru when he came in touch with Mohammed Fawaz, also a fitness professional based in Bengaluru, through social media, the police said.
According to the complaint, Singh later travelled to Bengaluru, where he met a person identified as Ashwin, who claimed to have quit a major firm and to be earning Rs 3-4 lakh a month through QNet, which operates in India as Vihaan Direct Selling India Pvt Ltd.
‘Pressured to invest’
The complainant alleged he was asked to invest between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, with the promise of continuous income if he enrolled two more people into the network. He said Fawaz pressured him to invest Rs 7.5 lakh and initially sought Rs 30,000 as a booking amount.
Singh said he transferred Rs 11,000 and Rs 14,000 to Fawaz in separate transactions before growing suspicious and discussing the scheme with his wife and friends, who told him it resembled an illegal money circulation scheme, following which he approached the police.
Based on his complaint, the CCS booked Fawaz, Ashwin, Vinu D’Cruz, Padma, Vaishakh Nair, Sanu Nair, Manoj R S, Balraj, Chetan Korada, Mohammed Shabir, Amal Dev and the management of QNet and Vihaan Direct Selling India.
A special team has been formed to investigate the case and trace the accused, police said.
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