| 02/02/2016 0
The special court has rejected anticipatory bail applications of two directors of Vihaan, Suresh Thimiri of Transview as well as Malcolm Desai and Michael Ferreira, the stakeholders of Vihaan that handles QNet‘s MLM operations in India
The special Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Court on Tuesday rejected anticipatory bail applications of five accused in the multi-crore QNet scam. This includes, Srinivas Rao Vanka and Magaral Veervalli Balaji, both directors of Vihaan Direct selling (India) Pvt Ltd, Suresh Thimiri, director of Transview Enterprises India Pvt Ltd, Malcolm Nozer Desai, who is 20% stakeholder in Vihaan and Michael Joseph Ferreira, former world champion of billiards and 80% stakeholder in Vihaan.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police, which is probing the case, had invoked the stringent MPID Act against controversial multi-level marketing (MLM) company QNet, which has denied any wrongdoing on its part.
Transview Enterprises is an associate company of Vihaan Direct Selling Pvt Ltd that handles QNet’s multi-level marketing (MLM) operations in India since 14 April 2012. Vihaan Direct Selling, in which Michael Ferreira, the former world billiards champion, owns 80% stake, is a direct selling agent of QNet and had done large financial transactions with Thimiri’s company Transview.
The EOW had booked several accused including the former world champion of billiards and five companies related with QNet, under the MPID Act. This means all the cases against QNet, Vihaan and all those involved in the MLM scam would be heard before the special MPID Court. Until now, the accused were being investigated for cheating and forgery under the Prize, Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act 1978, and for money laundering by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
In February 2014, the ED registered a case under the prevention of money laundering act (PMLA) against QNet, Vihaan Direct Selling, Ferreira and QNet founder Vijay Eswaran and three other independent representatives (IRs) of the MLM operator.
Gurupreet Singh Anand, a computer consultant from Lokhandawala, Andheri in his first information report (FIR) stated that his wife was duped for Rs30,000 by some people who had introduced themselves as the independent representatives (IRs) of QNet. Anand told the police, “They (IRs) had said that one of the bio-products my wife bought could be used to treat my 12-year-old son’s brain-related diseases.”http://www.moneylife.in/article/qnet-mpid-court-rejects-anticipatory-bail-applications-of-five-including-michael-ferreira-suresh-thimiri/
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