Chief Operating Officer of Online survey company Speak Asia, Tarak Bajpai, along with other 4 executives were arrested by Mumbai police in fraud case on Friday on charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy.
Based on a subscription model, Speak Asia collected Rs 11,000 from each member. The members were then paid for completing the surveys commissioned by various companies. However many companies deny commissioning such surveys and the Mumbai police estimates that the total amount collected could well be over Rs 1320 crore. A case was also filed in the Economic Offences and police suspects that large sums of money were already transferred out of India.
A statement released by the company said, “Speak Asia has always offered complete and total cooperation to all authorities about its functioning. This sudden development has shaken us up as it puts a blot on our integrity and promise to the millions of people who are part of Speak Asia. This rather uncalled for action has further led to the delay in the company offering various initiatives it had committed. No stone will be left unturned by us to resolve the issue as soon as possible and resume work as usual.”
