Bhupendrasinh Parbatsinh Zala Vs State of Gujarat (Gujarat High Court)
Recently, the Gujarat High Court has denied anticipatory bail under Section 482 of BNSS 2023, in connection with the FIR being C.R. No. 11201001240023 of 2024 registered with C.I.D. Crime Gandhinagar Zone Police Station-Gandhinagar, Bhupendrasinh Zala, head of the BZ Group, who faces allegations of a massive financial fraud amounting to ₹. 6000 crores. Justice M.R. Mengdey, in his December 23 order, described the case as a “large-scale scam” where numerous individuals were potentially defrauded.
The investigation began following an anonymous application to the home department of state about for high probability of a deep & large-scale financial fraud. On the basis of such complaint, preliminary inquiry was carried out by CID and Zala was summoned for questioning at the stage of preliminary inquiry but, he chose not to present. Afterwards, a raid was carried out at the place belonging to him. It came to notice that Zala allegedly operated through multiple entities, both formal and informal, managing several linked bank accounts. Using a money-lending license, the amount received by the him towards investment from the depositors comes to a whopping ₹ 3,60,72,65,524/-. Further, it also came to surface that while receiving the deposits, he would promise an annual return of 18% plus offering of return gifts like 32 Inch T.V., Mobile Phone or trips to Goa to attract investors.
