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Dubai Court orders BlueChip owner to pay Dh10 million within 7 days

The owner, Ravinder Nath Soni, also faces charges of fraud and criminal intimidation in India

Published: Wed 29 May 2024, 6:00 AM

Updated: Wed 29 May 2024, 11:20 PM

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[Editor's Note: Bluechip Computer Systems LLC and Bluechip Real Estate Brokers are not associated with the BlueChip Group mentioned in the article.]

BlueChip owner Ravinder Nath Soni has been ordered to pay Dh10.05 million to a cheque execution applicant or the court treasury within seven days by the Dubai Court of First Instance. Failure to comply will result in legal action against him, the court has warned.

Soni, whose whereabouts are unknown, is at the centre of an extensive investigation after allegedly disappearing with millions of investors' funds. "We haven’t heard from him in weeks," said the company’s PRO, Sandeep Raj.

The court order issued on Monday, May 27, follows a similar instance from last year when Dubai Courts published a notice in a local newspaper on May 17, 2023, ordering Soni to pay Dh2.05 million to another investor, Surendra Madhukar.

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Investigations reveal that Soni was involved in multiple fraudulent enterprises. He faces charges of fraud, forgery, breach of trust, and criminal intimidation in India. Court and police records obtained by Khaleej Times show that Soni was arrested in India in 2022 for running a fraudulent investment scheme, promising to double investors' money. He was released on bail by a court in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, along with a co-accused. Another police complaint, dating back to 2019 in Panipat, Haryana, accuses Soni of deceiving an investor and threatening him with death when he demanded his money back.

Prior investigations uncovered Soni's role as a manager at Acme Management Consultancy and its sister concern, Acme Global General Trading, between 2018 and 2020. These firms, which operated from the same premises as BlueChip in Al Jawhara building, Bur Dubai, engaged in similar schemes – soliciting millions of dirhams for forex trading, ultimately resulting in substantial losses for investors. Among those affected was Priti Rakesh Phillips, a Dubai resident, along with her family and friends who suffered losses totalling Dh39 million with Acme.

Dubai Public Prosecution has issued an international arrest warrant for Acme's owner Sundernath Dash who fled the UAE.

Additionally, a ban was imposed on assistant manager, George Veliyath, who has been ordered to pay Priti Dh11.3 million and Dh27.8 million to a company owned by her family.

The full extent of losses incurred by investors with BlueChip is yet to be determined, although, company insiders suggest the amount could exceed $100 million. On Monday, a former associate alleged that BlueChip transferred $41.35 million to an unknown crypto wallet on May 16. While he provided a screenshot of the purported transfer, Khaleej Times could not independently verify this claim.

Initially propelled into the limelight through an endorsement by Bollywood actor Sonu Sood, BlueChip, under Soni's ownership, boasted a $70-million portfolio and catered to over 700 clients, as claimed on their website. Promising a lucrative three per cent monthly return on a minimum investment of $10,000, secured for an 18-month period, the venture seemed enticing. However, this promise soured when payouts ceased without warning in March, leaving investors grappling with bounced cheques and unanswered queries. Following the initial exposé by Khaleej Times, a stream of additional individuals have stepped forward, reporting investments ranging from Dh100,000 to Dh10 million, now in jeopardy.

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