The CEO of IndianMoney Ffreedom app has been arrested in Bengaluru over charges of fraud and cheating via false assurances of jobs.
CS Sudheer, the founder and CEO of the financial app is in judicial custody and will undergo interrogation after 22 victims filed complaints against him and his employees
What did they do?
The manager, the HR are among the 22 employees who have been named in the complaint.
The employees had promised job seekers part-time jobs paying Rs 15,000 per month if they subscribed to the IndianMoney app for Rs 2,999.
When the money was taken but their promises were not honored, the victims went to the police.
Remains in custody
The first case was registered on April 4 by one person and 21 other complainants were named as witnesses.
The second case was filed on April 11 by another victim along with 20 others.
Sudheer received bail in one of the cases but returned to custody after another case was registered against him.
Police are yet to recover the money of the defrauded victims.
IndianMoney’s Ffreedom app describes itself as an investment advisory boutique firm offering customized investment services for insurance, loans, property, tax and so on.
About the CEO
Sudheer’s LinkedIn page states that he started IndianMoney in 2008 to help users gain “financial education.”
His profile says he hails from a small town in Karnataka.
He began his career in business at the age of nine by selling milk.
When he turned seventeen, he became the head of a dairy farm and brick factory.
He left his corporate position in April 2008 to create IndianMoney.com.
The app
The Ffreedom app was launched in 2020, available to download for free on Google Play and Apple App Store.
The Google Play listing notes that Ffreedom app has over one crore downloads
Based on 58 thousand ratings, it has 4.7 stars out of five.
App description
“Ffreedom App is India’s No 1 livelihood education App with 980+ Video Courses on Farming & Agriculture, Business and Personal Finance.
Currently, 11 million+ people use the Ffreedom app to learn various skills & increase their income by ten times.
The Ffreedom app interface & courses are available in English, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam.”
Word of caution
Job scams are not uncommon in India, with many job seekers taken advantage of through false promises.
Therefore it is crucial that anybody looking for jobs thoroughly investigate any job opportunities presented to them.
They should also never rely on the company’s alluring words, since there is a high chance it may be deceptive.
Remain vigilant and conduct due diligence before investing money or time in any opportunity that appears too good to be true.
