Mumbai: As cops untangle finfluencers case, investors suffer

Several investors of Bliss Consultantsmdashowned by Goregaonbased couple Ashesh and Shivangi Mehtamdashfind themselves grappling with a severe financial crisis With the Mehtasrsquos arrest and delays in the ongoing legal proceedings in the case their livelihoods hang in the balance As the court hearings remain mired in delays the anxious investors have come forward to plead with the justice system for a swift resolutionSpeaking with midday some of the aggrieved investors highlighted their struggles and appealed for their concerns to be brought to the attention of the administration They urged expedited measures to address their predicament so their financial distress may come to an endInvestor 1ldquoIn March 2022 I invested my entire lifersquos savings amounting to around Rs 17 crore in Bliss Consultants The monthly profits from this investment supported my family Everything seemed stable until June 2023 when the situation took a drastic turn due to Mehtas being named in a drug case and their subsequent arrest by the Mumbai police Court proceedings ensued and our monthly income ceased plunging my family into financial turmoil Around that time my mother was diagnosed with cancer compounding our mental and financial strugglesrdquo said Krunal Veera 40Also Read Goregaon couple case Complainant firm has driver and retirees as its directorsRadhika Borkar with one of the injured animals she looks afterVeera runs a retail business in Mumbai and resides with his wife two children and mother His father passed away a few years ago ldquoMy motherrsquos battle with cancer has drained our savings leaving us financially strained Every penny earned from my retail business now goes towards her treatment which costs R45000 for each chemotherapy session I am now compelled to seek a loan to sustain our expensesrdquo he saidAccording to Veera the investment in the Mehtasrsquo company which was intended to be a financial safety net has left the family in limbo due to the ongoing legal proceedings He asserted that he firmly believed that the Mehtas were caught up in a conspiracy being falsely accused by malicious actors ldquoI have known Mehta personally and Irsquom convinced of his innocence I implore the court to expedite the trial proceedings and take decisive action against the perpetrators Furthermore I urge the release of frozen funds from the Mehtasrsquo accounts to compensate the investors who have been adversely affected by their ordealrdquo he saidInvestor 2Vaibhav Gomkar 43 a resident of Bangalore working in the IT sector is the sole breadwinner of his family Supporting his elderly parents he also shoulders the responsibility of nurturing and educating his two younger brothers while managing household expenses With aspirations of securing his future and attending to necessary house repairs Vaibhav opted to invest his savings into Bliss Consultants His family members pitched in to make the investment possible with the hope of realising their dreams collectivelyRadhika Borkar would treat sick animals using the returns from her investmentsFor two years their investments seemed promising However their returns came to an abrupt halt as Bliss Consultants got caught up in legal proceedings related to the Mehta couple The unexpected turn of events left their financial assets frozen causing uncertainty about their future Speaking with midday Gomkar said ldquoI have two brothers without a steady income stream and wanted to build a house in my hometown But the plan was abandoned due to the case I look forward to this issue being resolved swiftly so that Ashesh Mehta can start paying investorsrdquoInvestor 3Shobhna Mehta 57 said she is on the verge of becoming homeless Shobhna told midday that she purchased a house in Ahmedabad several years ago by taking a loan and utilising funds obtained after taking voluntary retirement from her job Around R25 lakh from her retirement funds were invested in Bliss Consultants ldquoInitially I managed to sustain the housersquos EMI payments from the profits earned through Bliss However following the case involving Mehta my income abruptly ceased leaving me without any means to continue paying monthly instalmentsWhat exacerbates my predicament is that I am an unmarried woman with no one to rely on for support The profits generated from Bliss were my lifeline sustaining my livelihood Yet with the cessation of these profits I now find myself facing dire circumstancesrdquo According to Shobhna she applied for her investment amount to be returned after learning about the legal proceedings However unlike some who received their refunds on June 19 she was to receive them on June 20 ldquoThis oneday delay compounded my financial woesrdquo she saidThe Ahmedabad resident told midday that she was previously employed in a government job but opted for voluntary retirement due to deteriorating health ldquoI am now compelled to borrow funds to meet my EMI requirements Unfortunately my situation is compounded by the fact that many of my acquaintancesmdashincluding my grandfathermdashhave also invested with Mehta and are facing similar predicaments I earnestly implore the government to expedite the return of my funds to prevent me from descending into homelessnessrdquoInvestor 4Radhika Borkar 41 a scriptwriter residing in Vangani has invested around R18 lakh in Bliss Consultants She has been using the returns on her investments to run a farmhouse in Vangani where she provides care and treatment to around 18 sick dogs suffering from various ailments including failing kidneys and liver issues among other health complications She has also been providing care to two sick cows on the premisesHowever with the abrupt cessation of income due to the legal proceedings Borkar faces significant challenges in maintaining the wellbeing of these animals as her profits from her Blissrsquo investments were exclusively dedicated to funding the treatment and care of these sick and abandoned animals At present Radhika is compelled to divert funds from her salary to cover the expenses associated with the animalsrsquo treatment This sudden shift has caused considerable difficulties since her salary was previously allocated to meet her household expenses