The Supreme Court on Monday sought the government’s response on a plea filed by several persons claiming to have been duped by the “biggest franchisee scam” in the country.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde issued notice to the Ministries of Home and Finance, besides Central agencies like the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and SFIO.
The petition filed by 38 persons, led by Delhi resident Mahender Singh Rana, alleged that they were duped of their hard-earned money by Westland Trade Private Limited, which floated bogus companies Hyper Supermarket, Hyper Mart, Big Mart Super Mart, Louies Salon, Midnight Cafe, Franchisee World, BM Mart, H Mart and S Mart, among others.
“...Only the CBI can effectively investigate this gigantic scam, which includes bribery, corruption, breaches of Central laws, multi-State organised crime, economic crime and special crimes,” said the petitioners, represented by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.
It said a probe by the ED was also essential because money had been laundered outside the country. “Investigation by the SFIO is essential because it has experts from financial sector, capital market, accountancy, forensic audit, IT, company law, taxation law, Customs and investigation. Petitioners’ money has been looted by fraudsters by creating ghost companies throughout the country.”
The company took ₹3 lakh from investors for running grocery stores in May, 2019. It had opened stores in Karnataka, Telangana, Goa, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, MP, Delhi and many other States, the petition said.
The petitioners said the company defaulted on payment in April this year, leaving about 500 investors high and dry.
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