Delhi HC grants bail to ‘Hello Taxi’ Ponzi scheme accused

New Delhi, Jan 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Delhi High Court has granted bail to two accused persons, arrested by the Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing for allegedly cheating investors to the tune of nearly Rs 250 crore through a Ponzi scheme of mobility app 'Hello Taxi'.

Justice Subramonium Prasad granted bail to Sunder Singh Bhati and Rajesh Mahto on a personal bond of Rs 1,50,000 with two sureties of the like amount. One of them should be a relative of the petitioner, as per the order issued on Monday.

"Charge sheet, as well as supplementary charge sheet, have been filed and all the evidence available is documentary in nature and in the custody of the investigating agency. Whether or not the cheated money was entrusted to the petitioners is a matter of trial and cannot be taken into consideration at this juncture," the court noted.

Advocate Kumar Piyush Pushkar, appearing for Mahto, submitted that there is no evidence to indicate that his client had induced the investors and concocted lies about RBI authorisation.

He submitted that the accused company was incorporated in 2015 and was named Ayurvedic India and that the petitioner only joined tit on June 26, 2018, after the ownership and name were changed and handed over to the promoters of SMP Impex Pvt. Ltd. (Hello Taxi).

Claiming that his client is merely a non-executive director, counsel said he only received Rs 11 lakh, which was his remuneration, out of the alleged cheated amount of Rs 250 crore.

Advocate Pradeep Singh Rana, who appeared for Bhati, submitted that his client has been languishing in jail since December 9, 2020.

As per a complaint, SMP Impex Pvt Ltd (Hello Taxi) offered a 200 per cent return within a year. However, they neither paid the interest nor returned the principal amount. There were more than 900 investors so far and the amount involved is around Rs 250 crore, according to police.

Source: IANS