Attractive holiday packages, huge sums of money and incentives like luxury cars and jets. The offers to join and work with this online venture were too tempting to resist. Hundreds of thousands fell for it too, only to get duped of their hard- earned money.
The online pyramidal venture, TVI Express ( Travel Ventures International), allegedly robbed more than one lakh subscribes in India alone of their savings. It is estimated that more than 70 lakh people across the globe are members of the firm, sources said.
Its main promoter, Tarun Trikha, has been arrested recently by the crime investigation department ( CID) of the West Bengal Police.
Central agencies such as Directorate of Enforcement, Serious Fraud Investigation Office, and Financial Intelligence Unit have also been alerted after the arrest.
Trikha, who had been on the run after several complaints were registered in Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore against him in February 2011, was apprehended from the Capital’s IGI Airport on April 4 following an alert by the Intelligence Bureau.
He was later handed over to the West Bengal CID.
“A lookout notice was issued for him since he was on the run since 2011. He was arrested at the Delhi airport while trying to flee to Nepal,” said Syed Waqar Raza, special superintendent of police, West Bengal CID. Raza said it was difficult to assess the magnitude of the scam immediately.
“But as more people come forward, it will be clear. As per our case, the complainant claimed that he was duped of ` 40 crore.” The TVI Express website promises lucrative offers for its members. The modus operandi was to lure people to join the portal and bring more recruits for a bumper cash incentive.
Members were paid through vouchers and money was actually never generated. INN has found out that the members were paying money in the personal accounts of Trikha and his family.
INN tried to contact Trikha’s father, Vinay Kumar, on his mobile phone but it was unreachable.
THE TRIKHA STORY
Tarun Trikha and his family members are directors in TVI Express. Trikha, a 28- year- old businessman from Delhi, has been in this business for the last four years. He came under the scanner when the West Bengal police registered a case against him in February 2011 for allegedly duping a person of ` 40 crore. He has been on the run since then
THE SCHEME: Members are required pay ` 15,000 each. Money gets doubled if a member brings in two recruits. For 64 recruits, a member is promised a bonus of ` 5 lakh. Incentives vary from foreign junkets, luxury cars, property and even a jet. Members are given vouchers. In return of the vouchers, money is promised at a later stage, which never materialises
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