NEW DELHI: On Saturday, July 22, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) took Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Dinesh Kumar Singh into custody regarding a case related to the Bike Bot scam, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The arrest followed searches conducted at Singh's residence in Noida on July 20.
During the investigation, officials found incriminating evidence at Singh's home. It appears that Singh was involved in extorting money from individuals who were under investigation for the Bike Bot Scam at the Lucknow Zonal office. He would contact his victims and offer false promises of settling their PMLA investigations, thereby enabling the release of their assets that were seized by the ED.
The ED is currently probing the Bike Bot Scam, which involved fraud worth Rs 1665 crore and was committed by Garvit Innovative Promoters Ltd. (GIPL), Sanjay Bhati, and others. In 2017, Bhati and his associates launched a scheme called "BIKEBOT," where customers could invest in 1, 3, 5, or 7 bikes. The company would manage and operate the bikes, and investors were promised monthly rental income, EMIs, and bonuses for multiple bike investments.
A similar scheme was launched for E-Bikes, and GIPL also offered franchises in various cities. The company falsely claimed annual profits of up to 40 per cent for its investors. The PMLA investigation revealed that the funds collected were utilized in a manner similar to a Ponzi scheme, with the money eventually being used to create assets in the company's name and other individuals involved in the scam.
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