Freedom 251 arrest: Ringing Bells head Mohit Goel detained for alleged fraud
The Gaziabad Police on Thursday night arrested phone maker Ringing Bells director Mohit Goel over a payment dispute with a local firm. Ghaziabad-based Ayam Enterprises had filed an FIR alleging that Goel's company had "defrauded" his company of Rs 16 lakh.
- Feb 24, 2017,
- Updated Feb 24, 2017 6:59 PM IST
The Gaziabad Police on Thursday night arrested phone maker Ringing Bells director Mohit Goel over a payment dispute with a local firm. Ghaziabad-based Ayam Enterprises had filed an FIR alleging that Goel's company had "defrauded" his company of Rs 16 lakh.
Akshay Malhotra of Ayam Enterprises said that Ringing Bells owed the company Rs 16 lakhs after it failed to deliver phones and accessories despite receiving payment for the order.
"We paid Rs 30 lakh to Ringing Bells through RTGS on different occasions. But it delivered us product worth Rs 13 lakh only. Upon follow-up, we could get products plus money totalling Rs 14 lakh," Ayam Enterprises claimed in the FIR.
Ringing Bells managing director and Goel's brother, Anmol Goel, Goel's wife Dharna Garg, general manager Sumit Kumar, and partner Ashok Chaddha have also been named in the FIR.
Goel said he was willing to pay back the money and did not know what had "transpired".
"The payments of several distributors were pending and we have promised to pay them by March 31. I still don't know what transpired. I was willing to pay back his payment and he was also ready. I don't know why police declined this. It is surprising that a couple of days back Noida crime branch gave us a clean chit and soon I am implicated in another case now," the Hindustan Times quotes Goel as saying.
In February last year, Goel announced the launch of the world's cheapest phone Freedom 251 which saw a mad rush of over 70 million people jostling to register. The Freedom 251 prototype touts a quad-core processor, a 4-inch screen and front and back cameras, priced at an astonishingly low rate of Rs 251.
But when the prototype was presented to media it turned out to be produced by another manufacturer with its logo covered.
Also, the immediate hullabaloo over the price was replaced by controversies as Ringing Bells came under the scanner of multiple agencies following complaints of non-delivery and non-viability of selling a smartphone at such a low price.
Protests from buyers and consequent inquiries by police and tax officials forced the company to offer refunds to those who had booked the phone.
Last year, its partner agency Cyfuture which was a vendor of Ringing Bells and was contracted to provide call centre support to it had also filed a police complaint against Ringing Bells for not honouring its agreement. Ringing Bells had approached Cyfuture to manage helpdesk operations for it and provide support for its range of smartphones.
In between, the company also ventured into the production of LED TV. Last year, the company had launched a 31.5 inch HD LED TV priced at Rs 9,900.
The Gaziabad Police on Thursday night arrested phone maker Ringing Bells director Mohit Goel over a payment dispute with a local firm. Ghaziabad-based Ayam Enterprises had filed an FIR alleging that Goel's company had "defrauded" his company of Rs 16 lakh.
Akshay Malhotra of Ayam Enterprises said that Ringing Bells owed the company Rs 16 lakhs after it failed to deliver phones and accessories despite receiving payment for the order.
"We paid Rs 30 lakh to Ringing Bells through RTGS on different occasions. But it delivered us product worth Rs 13 lakh only. Upon follow-up, we could get products plus money totalling Rs 14 lakh," Ayam Enterprises claimed in the FIR.
Ringing Bells managing director and Goel's brother, Anmol Goel, Goel's wife Dharna Garg, general manager Sumit Kumar, and partner Ashok Chaddha have also been named in the FIR.
Goel said he was willing to pay back the money and did not know what had "transpired".
"The payments of several distributors were pending and we have promised to pay them by March 31. I still don't know what transpired. I was willing to pay back his payment and he was also ready. I don't know why police declined this. It is surprising that a couple of days back Noida crime branch gave us a clean chit and soon I am implicated in another case now," the Hindustan Times quotes Goel as saying.
In February last year, Goel announced the launch of the world's cheapest phone Freedom 251 which saw a mad rush of over 70 million people jostling to register. The Freedom 251 prototype touts a quad-core processor, a 4-inch screen and front and back cameras, priced at an astonishingly low rate of Rs 251.
But when the prototype was presented to media it turned out to be produced by another manufacturer with its logo covered.
Also, the immediate hullabaloo over the price was replaced by controversies as Ringing Bells came under the scanner of multiple agencies following complaints of non-delivery and non-viability of selling a smartphone at such a low price.
Protests from buyers and consequent inquiries by police and tax officials forced the company to offer refunds to those who had booked the phone.
Last year, its partner agency Cyfuture which was a vendor of Ringing Bells and was contracted to provide call centre support to it had also filed a police complaint against Ringing Bells for not honouring its agreement. Ringing Bells had approached Cyfuture to manage helpdesk operations for it and provide support for its range of smartphones.
In between, the company also ventured into the production of LED TV. Last year, the company had launched a 31.5 inch HD LED TV priced at Rs 9,900.