Despite the dubious modus operandi it followed, the company has escaped the regulators’ net

Stockguru.India, (SGI) a fraud company operating as a self-styled investment adviser, has allegedly duped its investors of around Rs1,000 crore. According to these investors, the company's managing director is absconding.

In December 2010, Moneylife had reported about the dubious modus operandi of Stockguru.India and advised investors to stay away from investing in the company. (This MLM openly flouts SEBI norms and offers 120% returns in a year through stock market investment!)

Going by the comments posted on consumer complaint forums, as many as 2 lakh investors have been duped of a whopping Rs1,000 crore.

One comment reads: "It's really the height of deception. Lokeshwar Dev made a lot of promises and played with more than 2 lakh families. I (had) also invested hard-earned money and even advised many of my friends … as I found it to be a very lucrative plan. As per Lokeshwar's comment, he has run away to the US and will not return until he would be out of IT department boundaries and (it will) take several years. His web site, contact numbers, top leaders contacts are out of reach, hence there is nobody to help us."

Another comment says, "Stockguru.India was a pre-planned fraud by Lokeshwar Dev Jain. In February, he had to return 100% principal amount taken by his company six months back, so he himself complained to Income-Tax authorities about surplus cash in his office. Only a handful amount of money was seized, as Lokeshwar must have withdrawn the entire amount from the company's account, which is estimated at over Rs1,000 crore, before the raid which he was expecting. He kept making a fool of everyone for the next two months, so he could escape to the US along with his family."

SGI is a multi-level marketing (MLM) company that promised 20% returns per month. The company describes itself as the country's 'Premier Financial Consultancy', offering trading solutions in equity, derivatives, currency futures, commodities trading, initial public offerings (IPOs), insurance (life/non-life), general insurance, mutual funds, portfolio management services and terminal handling, all under one roof.

The MLM company's investment plan was very simple. You pay a minimum Rs10,000 as investment and Rs1,000 as registration fees. There is no limit on the maximum amount one can invest. It offers a return of 20% per month for up to six months and the principal amount invested is returned in the next six months. It also gives post-dated cheques of the principal and a promissory note as security. In short, on an investment of Rs11,000, the company offers to pay Rs12,000 in six months and the rest Rs10,000 over the next six months, that is a total of Rs22,000 or a 120% return in a year.

Such huge returns were suspicious, given the volatility in the market, but it did manage to attract a lot of investors.

SGI is not registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) as an investment adviser, but still offers to trade on behalf of clients. It also operated without any trading licence from the Reserve Bank of India and SEBI. So, will the regulators take any action against the officials of the company?

Moneylife had raised this matter earlier, but it seems that the regulators ignored the issue. Hope this time around the regulators, who keep on harping that 'they care of retail investors', will punish the fraudsters and save the investors.

Moneylife Foundation, an affiliate of Moneylife, that is a not-for-profit organisation promoting financial literacy, has always advised people not to invest in MLM companies, which are not registered with SEBI or RBI. However, people continue to fall in the trap since they promise high returns.