The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday arrested Chander Bhushan Singh and his wife, Priyanka, who are both directors of Maxizone Touch Pvt Ltd, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The arrests are part of an extensive investigation into a large-scale financial fraud case involving the alleged diversion and laundering of public money through deceptive business practices.
According to the ED, its investigation revealed that the accused had floated a fraudulent multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme designed to lure unsuspecting investors. People were allegedly enticed with assurances of abnormally high monthly returns along with attractive referral-based incentives, creating the illusion of a legitimate and profitable investment opportunity.
Using this scheme, the directors are alleged to have mobilised unauthorised deposits amounting to more than Rs 307 crore. The funds were reportedly collected through at least 21 different bank accounts, allowing the accused to generate and layer substantial proceeds of crime while avoiding early detection by financial regulators and law enforcement agencies.
The ED further stated that after accumulating the funds, the accused allegedly went absconding and remained on the run for nearly three years. During this period, they are said to have deliberately evaded authorities across multiple states, including Jharkhand, Rajasthan, and Assam, despite several attempts by police and other agencies to trace and apprehend them.
Investigators also found that the illicit funds were allegedly laundered through benami real estate investments and by converting large portions of the collected deposits into cash. This was allegedly done to obscure the trail of money and make it difficult for authorities to link the proceeds back to the original fraudulent activities.
To avoid arrest, the accused are alleged to have used forged and fake identity documents, operated under an assumed name — ‘Deepak Singh’ — and frequently changed their locations. The ED said these tactics were employed to mislead investigators and remain undetected for an extended period.
The money laundering investigation was initiated by the ED on the basis of multiple FIRs registered by police authorities in several states, including Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Karnataka. These FIRs accused the company and its directors of cheating large numbers of people through the deceptive MLM scheme.
Earlier in the probe, the ED carried out search operations on September 16 and December 3 at multiple locations across Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Vaishali in Bihar, Meerut, Ranchi, and Dehradun. These searches were aimed at tracing the proceeds of crime and gathering evidence against the accused.
During the searches, the agency seized a wide range of incriminating material, including fake identity cards, handwritten notes, and diaries detailing cash and financial transactions, and cash exceeding Rs 10 lakh. Officials also recovered information about associates, cheque books linked to various entities, digital devices such as laptops and mobile phones, cryptocurrency holdings worth approximately USD 15,000, and documents related to several real estate properties allegedly purchased using laundered funds.
Following his arrest, Chander Bhushan Singh was produced before a Special Court (PMLA) in Ranchi, which remanded him to five days of ED custody to allow investigators to further interrogate him and trace the remaining proceeds of crime.
