Seizure of Highrich assets upheld in scam case

THRISSUR: A court in Kerala upheld the seizure of assets of Highrich Shopping Private Limited involved in a money chain scam that defrauded investors a whopping amount of Rs31.41 billion. The Third Additional Sessions Court here ratified the confiscation of assets belonging to the defendants implicated in the money chain scam.

The ruling upholds the provisional seizure previously ordered by the district Collector, comprising a wide range of assets, including 67 bank accounts, 11 vehicles, and various real estate holdings.

While the exact total value of the confiscated property remains to be fully calculated, it has been reported that almost half of the bank accounts contain funds exceeding Rs10 million.

Last month, the state government issued an order handing over the Highrich financial fraud case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The government had issued the notification in this regard in March, following which an order was issued on 5 April directing to hand over a performance report on the case immediately.

The order instructed that the performance report be sent immediately to Delhi through the Economic Offences wing DYSP.

According to the investigation agencies, the Highrich company had committed financial fraud under the guise of online shopping.

Police report mentioned that a fraud worth around rs 16.3 million was committed by the company.

Thrissur natives KD Prathapan and wife Sreena Prathapan are the owners of Highrich Online Shoppe Private Limited.

The investigating team had earlier frozen as many as 55 bank accounts in which amounts worth Rs2.12 billion were deposited.

The Highrich Online Platform had created dealers through multi-level marketing schemes.

The company is said to have engaged in money chain business in the cover of the sales of miscellaneous products. As per the statements issued, Highrich has 78 branches in Kerala and 680 shops across the country.

They have several associate companies including those which are involved in crypto currency transactions.

It was also found during the investigation that IDS of around 163, 000 dealers were in the hands of the company.

In order to exaggerate the number of dealers, around 50 IDS were created for the same dealer.

According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the company has accumulated almost Rs11.57 billion through fraudulent means.

Multiple raids have been conducted in the case so far, including the ones at the Highrich head office, those at the two houses of the owners and the searches conducted at the Thrissur and Ernakulam branches of Highrich.