Webwork (Indian web site)

Last updated

Webwork
Company typePrivately owned
GenreDeposit mobilising company
FounderAnurag Garg, Sandesh Verma
Headquarters India

Webwork was an Indian website portal accused of being a Ponzi scheme. [1] The site was promoted by a Bollywood star, and was said to have scammed Rs 125 crore from users. Webwork's directors were arrested in February 2017. [2]

In February 2017, the Noida office of Webwork Trade Links was sealed for allegedly running an online Ponzi scheme, soliciting investments from Rs 11,000 to Rs 57,500 to become "publishers." Investors were promised Rs 6 per website "like." Despite the office closure, police recovered demand drafts worth Rs 20 lakh, sent after the sealing, in addition to the previously seized Rs 6 crore in demand drafts. Directors Anurag Garg and Sandesh Verma were arrested following numerous complaints. The scam affected over 2 lakh people, who invested more than Rs 240 crore. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Software Technology Parks of India</span> Technology Park

Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) is an S&T autonomous society under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) engaged in promoting IT/ ITES Industry, Innovation, R&D, Start-ups, Product/ IP creation in the field of emerging technologies like Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Computer Vision, Robotics, Augmented & Virtual Reality, Animation & Visual effect (AVGC), Data Science & Analytics for various domains like FinTech, Agritech, MedTech, Autonomous Connected Electric & Shared(ACES) Mobility, ESDM, Cyber Security, Gaming, Industry 4.0, Drone, Efficiency Augmentation, etc. STPI was established in 1991 by the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) with the objective of encouraging, promoting and boosting the export of software from India. STPI Headquarters is located in New Delhi with over 60+ Centres spread across the country.

The information technology (I.T.) industry in India comprises information technology services and business process outsourcing. The share of the IT-BPM sector in the GDP of India is 7.4% in FY 2022. The IT and BPM industries' revenue is estimated at US$ 245 billion in FY 2023. The domestic revenue of the IT industry is estimated at $51 billion, and export revenue is estimated at $194 billion in FY 2023. The IT–BPM sector overall employs 5.4 million people as of March 2023. In December 2022, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar, in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha informed that IT units registered with state-run Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) and Special Economic Zones have exported software worth Rs 11.59 lakh crore in 2021–22.

Unitech Limited is an Indian real estate investment company headquartered in New Delhi, and once claimed to be the largest real estate builder in the country.

Uttar Pradesh food grain scam took place between years 2002 and 2010, in Uttar Pradesh state in India, wherein food grain worth 350 billion (US$4.2 billion), meant to be distributed amongst the poor, through Public Distribution System (PDS) and other welfare schemes like Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), Jawahar Rozgar Yojana and Midday Meal Scheme for Below Poverty Line (BPL) card holders, was diverted to the open market. Some of it was traced to the Nepal and Bangladesh borders, as in 2010 security forces seized Rs 11.7 million worth of foodgrains like paddy and pulses being smuggled to Nepal, another Rs 6062,000 worth of grains were confiscated on the Indo-Bangladesh border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qnet</span> Hong Kong based multi-level marketing company

Qnet Ltd, formerly known as QuestNet and GoldQuest, is a Hong Kong-based multi-level marketing (MLM) company owned by the QI Group. QNet was founded in 1998 by Vijay Eswaran and Joseph Bismark. The company's products include energy, weight management, nutrition, personal care, home care and fashion accessories on an e-commerce platform.

The granite scam was a corruption scandal that occurred in Tamil Nadu, India. It gained notoriety after former civil servant of Madurai Ubagarampillai Sagayam wrote a letter to the chief secretary of the State Industries Department on 19 May 2012, reporting major violations by many granite quarries in the Madurai district, estimating a loss of more than sixteen thousand crore rupees to the state exchequer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saradha Group financial scandal</span> Financial scandal in India

The Saradha Group financial scandal was a major political scandal caused by the collapse of a Ponzi scheme run by Saradha Group, a consortium of over 200 private companies that was believed to be running collective investment schemes popularly but incorrectly referred to as chit funds in Eastern India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K. D. Singh (politician)</span>

Dr Kanwar Deep Singh, also known as K. D. Singh, is an Indian businessman turned politician and Member of Parliament (MP), Rajya Sabha representing the All India Trinamool Congress, but first elected to the Indian parliament as a nominee of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. He is the founder and the former chairman of the Indian business group called Turbo Industries, whose name was changed and rebranded as the Alchemist Group in 2004. He was elected to lead the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) between 2013 and 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Make in India</span> Government initiative to encourage manufacturing in India

Make in India is an initiative by the Government of India to create and encourage companies to develop, manufacture and assemble products in India and incentivize dedicated investments into manufacturing. The policy approach was to create a conducive environment for investments, develop a modern and efficient infrastructure, and open up new sectors for foreign capital. The initiative targeted 25 economic sectors for job creation and skill enhancement, and aimed "to transform India into a global design and manufacturing export hub."

Ringing Bells Private Limited was a company based in Noida (India), registered on 16 September 2015. It was later described as a "ponzi scheme".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom 251</span> 2016 controversial smartphone

The Freedom 251 is a smartphone that was initially offered for sale in India at the promotional price of ₹251. Sold by Ringing Bells Private Limited, and marketed as the world's cheapest smartphone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OneCoin</span> Bulgarian multi-level marketing company

OneCoin is a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme conducted by offshore companies OneCoin Ltd, based in Bulgaria and registered in Dubai, and OneLife Network Ltd, both founded by Ruja Ignatova in concert with Sebastian Greenwood. OneCoin is considered a Ponzi scheme due to its organisational structure of paying early investors using money obtained from newer ones. It was also a pyramid scheme due to the recruiting of investors without providing any actual product. The company maintained its own database of coins rather than using an actual blockchain and had was no mining process that limited its ability to release and circulate coins. Many of the people central to OneCoin had been previously involved in other similar schemes and business malpractices. OneCoin was described by The Times as "one of the biggest scams in history".

Anubhav Plantations was an Indian Chennai-based plantation company founded in 1992. It sold shares in teak plantations on guaranteed interests and later diversified to other schemes through four principal companies: Anubhav Agrotech, Anubhav Green Farms & Resorts, Anubhav Plantations, and Anubhav Royal Orchards Exports.

The Rose Valley financial scandal or simply Rose Valley Chit Fund Scam was a major financial scam and alleged political scandal in India caused by the collapse of a Ponzi scheme run by Rose Valley Group. On January 25, 2019, CBI arrested Bengali film producer Srikant Mohta for duping Rose Valley Group by Rs 25 crore. Mohta's company Shree Venkatesh Films has produced many award-winning films like Chokher Bali, Memories In March, Autograph, Raincoat and Iti Mrinalini.

The Adarsh Credit Co-operative Society (ACCS) is a Ponzi scheme fraudulently registered under the MSCS Act w.e.f. 1986. It opened in 1999, primarily to bluff the public in Rajasthan, and all money has been siphoned off by the family members of the owners to buy properties and dupe investors of funds worth Rs. 8,000 Crore.

Piramal Capital and Housing Finance Limited is a non-deposit taking housing finance company, headquartered in Mumbai with branches in major cities across India. DHFL was established to enable access to economical housing finance to the lower and middle income groups in semi-urban and rural parts of India. DHFL is the second housing finance company to be established in the country. The company also leases commercial and residential premises. DHFL is among the 50 biggest financial companies in India.

I Monetary Advisory (IMA) was an Indian investment company, with headquarters in Bangalore. Its collapse was one in a long line of similar collapses over the preceding few years, of companies purporting to be Islamic banking companies, with investors in India and the United Arab Emirates, that investigating authorities afterwards stated to have been Ponzi schemes, including: Heera Group; Morgenall, Capital Plus, and Capital Infrastructure ; Injaz International, Ajmera, Aleef, Aala Ventures, Ambidant, and Burraqh; and Sunfeast Infotech, SpeakAsia, MMA Forex, Gold AE, Ferryland Tourism, UT Markets and Exential Group. Total losses to investors over 14 such companies have been conservatively estimated at 5,000 crore (US$600 million) with the loss due to IMA alone estimated at 2,500 crore (US$300 million)

The 2021 Union Budget of India was presented by the Minister of Finance on 1 February 2021. The budget is the first one to be presented orally due to ongoing COVID pandemic.

References

  1. "As fear spreads, some firms start refunding investors - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  2. Kumar Pandey, Rajesh; Alam, Shafaque (3 May 2017). "webwork's 'ponzi scam': HC orders CBI probe into Webwork's 'Ponzi scam' | Noida News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  3. "Noida: A month after it was sealed, Webwork office gets demand drafts worth Rs 20 lakh". Hindustan Times. 24 March 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2024.