According to a statement issued by the EOW, the complainant alleged that the accused, 41-year-old Zamil Akhtar, lured him to invest in a fake scrap trading business by promising assured high returns.
Akhtar also introduced his family members as business partners to gain his trust, the statement said.
An FIR was registered on January 18 last year, and during investigation, 37 more victims approached the police with similar complaints, taking the total cheated amount to Rs 6.35 crore, it said.
Police said Akhtar, along with his associates, created a fictitious profile of a profitable pan-India scrap business using forged documents to mislead investors. The money collected from victims was misappropriated, and there was no actual business activity, officials said.
The accused operated a Ponzi-like scheme, rotating funds from one investor to another to project profitability, the statement added.
Police said Akhtar absconded after allegedly cheating the victims. Despite several raids at his suspected hideouts, he remained untraceable.
He finally surrendered before the Karkardooma Court on May 13, following which he was arrested and taken into custody, they said.
The accused, a resident of Rajeev Gandhi Nagar in New Mustafabad, has no formal education, officials said, adding that further investigation is underway to identify his associates and recover the defrauded money. PTI BM BM OZ OZ