Major setback for Shubman Gill, 4 Gujarat Titans players including captain to be summoned by CID in Rs 4500000000 scam

The Gujarat Titans (GT) captain, Shubman Gill along with three other players have been summoned by the Gujarat Crime Investigation Department (CID) for their involvement in an investment scheme with BZ Financial Services, a firm implicated in a Rs 450 crore Ponzi scheme.

In addition to Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Mohit Sharma and Rahul Tewatia are also implicated in the case. According to a report by Ahmedabad Mirror, Gill had invested a substantial Rs 1.95 crore in BZ Financial Services, while the other three GT players had investments ranging from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore. The CID will be summoning all four players for further investigation as their availability permits.

BZ Financial Services had enticed individuals with promises of higher interest rates than traditional banks, only to deceive them when the promises were not fulfilled, leading to reports being filed with the police.

Initially, the Gujarat CID had alleged that Bhupendrasinh Zala, CEO of BZ Financial Services, was involved in a Rs 6,000 crore chit-fund fraud. However, the figure has since been revised down to Rs 450 crore.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (CID-Crime) Parikshita Rathod has reported that Zala, operating under his entity BZ Financial Services, deceived investors by promising them high returns and collecting money from them. After nearly a month on the run, Zala was apprehended by the police in Mehsana district on December 27th.

Zala is currently in custody until January 4th. Rathod revealed that Zala had acquired assets totaling Rs 100 crore using the funds obtained from investors but failed to fulfill his promise of returning the money to them.

"So far, we have learnt that nearly 11,000 individuals had invested in schemes floated by Zala's firm. Of these, around 10 individuals had invested more than Rs 1 crore. Further investigation about his agents, modus operandi and assets is underway," Rathod told reporters.

Seven other persons were arrested by the CID in connection with the case. According to the CID, Zala promised the investors a return of 36 percent annually. "His firms would initially pay investors the promised returns to win their trust before defaulting. He had also appointed agents on a commission basis to lure investors," a CID statement read.

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