Mangaluru : The police on Thursday arrested Four persons of Malaika multi-state credit society for allegedly duping 166 investors to the tune of Rs 21 crore.

Those arrested are chairman of Malaika Multi-State Co-operative Credit Society, Gilbert Pavastin Baptist, and its three directors Nobel Mascarnes, Prakash Etappa Kotian and Dinesh Timappa Pujari.

The arrest was made by the Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar police commissionerate in Maharashtra.

Pujari is a resident of Karnataka, while three others were residents of the Mumbai metropolitan region, the police said.

Malaika Multi-State Co-operative Credit Society was set up in Mira Road and has many branches across the coastal districts of Karnataka. It had offered a high rate of interest to senior citizens which enticed thousands of people to deposit money in the Society.

A total of 166 people invested in the society’s schemes. However, the accused did not return their money and the amount was used for their personal gain. The toal amount involved was Rs 21,45,35,673,’ the police said in a statement.

Following a complaint, the police had formed a special team to trace the accused, the police said, adding that an offence was registered at Mira Road police station under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 465 (forgery), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act.

The police are trying to find out if any more people had fallen victim to the promises of this credit society.