New Delhi, Jan 23 (UNI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Jaipur Zonal Office, today said it has attached 37 immovable properties and one movable property worth Rs 15.97 crore in connection with the Apexa Group fraud case.
The 37 attached immovable properties comprise agricultural and residential lands belonging to Murli Manohar Namdev, Durga Shankar Merotha, Anil Kumar, Giriraj Nayak, Smt. Shobha Rani, and others. These properties are located in Bundi, Baran, and Kota districts of Rajasthan. The movable property attached includes one bank account of the Apexa Group to the extent of Rs 1.50 crore.
The ED initiated the investigation on the basis of multiple First Information Reports registered by the Rajasthan Police against Murli Manohar Namdev and several others. It is alleged that the Apexa Group collected Rs 194.76 crore from a large number of investors.
ED investigation revealed that Murli Manohar Namdev, in collusion with his associates, deliberately devised fraudulent schemes under the banner of the Apexa Group with criminal and malafide intent. These schemes promised exceptionally high returns to lure unsuspecting and gullible investors. There was no credible financial basis or legitimate business activity to support the promised returns, nor any practical mechanism to generate such high profits within a short period.
Between 2012 and 2020, the accused continued to attract funds by paying nominal returns to investors, either by circulating newly collected funds from other investors or by inducing investors to reinvest the returns received. This created an illusion of profitable operations. However, sustaining such high returns was inherently impossible, making the schemes fundamentally unsustainable.
The situation worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic when a large number of investors demanded repayment of their invested funds along with promised returns. The Apexa Group, led by Murli Manohar Namdev and his associates, failed to meet these demands, resulting in the collapse of the schemes and large-scale losses to investors.
The investigation further revealed that the funds collected were primarily diverted towards the purchase of immovable properties and the establishment of new business ventures to fulfil the personal financial ambitions of the accused and their associates, rather than generating legitimate returns for investors.
Further investigation in the matter is ongoing.
