How CA Amber Dalal, accused of duping thousands of people, managed to bypass regulations to give 18-22% interest to investors for 14 years

Promising monthly returns of 1.5 to 1.8 per cent on investments, Dalal, chief proprietor of Ritz Consultancy Services, allegedly ran a ponzi scheme starting 2010. In the initial years, he would accept any amount for investment, but after 2016 he set the minimum limit to Rs 10 lakh. He told investors that he would invest their money in risk-free markets like commodities and give them assured returns. Since all payouts were made through either cheque or electronic payment, and on time, his investors trusted him, the EOW said.

Police sources also said that he operated as a sub-broker and further invested money on different trading markets via broking firms like Angel broking. However, he has still not disclosed the methods by which he would make astounding gains.

A Pune investor said Dalal did not use the Ponzi scheme to do so. “People didn’t invest in ponzi schemes. They invested money with Dalal with full faith in his investment management ability. After all, for over 20 years he has been in the business. He dealt in arbitrage commodities offering a 22 per cent interest, which went down to 18% after the Ukraine war. Unlike Ponzi schemes which generally last a maximum of 4 to 5 years, Dalal was making regular payouts to investors for years until February 2024 when first time payouts to some investors were delayed,” the investor said.

An EOW officer said, “We are still interrogating him and working on extracting information regarding what formulas or methods he used to generate such inconceivable profits, distributing 18 to 20 per cent annual interest to his investors for 14 years.”

“If his formulas were not legit, how did he manage to bypass SEBI regulations? To get all these answers we have also written to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). We have sought details of all transactions made via Dalal’s PAN card in the past 14 years,” said an EOW officer who is part of the probe.

The agency is trying to get details of all Dalal’s properties, which they suspect he may have amassed jointly in some other person’s name to avoid scrutiny. Dalal also has a Mercedes car and owns one of the three flats of his Oshiwara house which has been merged into one. Since sections of Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act have been invoked against Dalal, all his properties will be attached and auctioned to recover the money he embezzled from investors.

One of the victims, an investor, has alleged that Dalal’s son Mithil was part of Dalal’s business and there is evidence indicating his involvement in day-to-day transactions. However, police are still verifying it.

The EOW may soon rope in a forensic auditor to scrutinise and detect irregularities in financial transactions made by Dalal’s firm in the past 14 years, another source said.

So far, 675 victim investors have approached EOW, taking the total amount embezzled by Dalal to Rs 400 crore. EOW has so far frozen 34 bank accounts, of which seven directly belong to Dalal, four are in his firm’s name, while rest belong to his family and relatives, the EOW has said.