(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

Ravindra Nath Soni, the fugitive Indian-origin owner of Dubai-based BlueChip Group and the prime accused in one of the UAE's largest investment frauds, has been arrested in India, ending an 18-month international hunt.

Kanpur police confirmed on Monday that Soni, 44, was taken into custody on November 30, 2025, from Dehradun, Uttarakhand, where he had been hiding, according to Indian media. A reward of Rs10,000 had been announced for information leading to his arrest.

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Addressing a press conference, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Law & Order, Kanpur Nagar, Anjali Vishwakarma (IPS), described the arrest as a“significant breakthrough”. She said a special team tracked Soni through technical and human surveillance before raiding his hideout in Dehradun and bringing him to Kanpur.

“Soni defrauded numerous victims by promising high monthly returns through his Dubai-based company BlueChip. He has a long criminal history with three prior cases of fraud registered against him. We are now following the money trail and will seize all bank accounts and assets linked to him,” Vishwakarma told reporters.

Local television footage showed Soni flanked by two police officers as he was produced before the media. Take a look here:

The arrest comes more than a year after Khaleej Times first exposed the BlueChip collapse in a series of investigative reports beginning in June 2024, when an arrest warrant was issued against Soni by the Dubai Court of First Instance for failing to repay Dh10.05 million to a cheque-holder.

BlueChip, which operated from the Al Jawhara Building in Bur Dubai, promised investors guaranteed 3% monthly returns (36% annually) on a minimum investment of $10,000 locked in for 18 months. The scheme collapsed in March 2024 when payments suddenly stopped, leaving hundreds of UAE residents, many of them Indian expats, facing losses estimated to exceed $100 million (Dh367 million).

Among the Indian complainants is Abdul Karim, whose son works in Dubai. In 2021, a sales executive from BlueChip allegedly approached them with a promise to double their investment within 36 to 46 months. Police said Soni persuaded the family to put money into schemes in India. They eventually invested Dh185,000. Soon after, Soni's phone went off and the company's website disappeared, prompting the family to file a fraud case.

Investors received bounced cheques, the office was abandoned overnight, and Soni vanished along with senior staff.

Khaleej Times investigation revealed that BlueChip was the latest in a string of fraudulent ventures run by Soni from the same Bur Dubai premises. Between 2018 and 2020, he operated Acme Management Consultancy and Acme Global General Trading, which also disappeared after allegedly pocketing millions in investor funds.

Court records accessed by Khaleej Times show Soni was previously ordered by a Dubai court in 2023 to repay Dh2.05 million to another victim. In India, he was arrested in 2022 in Aligarh for running a“double-your-money” scheme and faces separate charges in Panipat, Haryana, for fraud and criminal intimidation.

In May 2024, Khaleej Times reported that BlueChip had transferred $41.35 million to an unknown cryptocurrency wallet just days before the firm shut down. Separately, Cyprus-based trading platform provider MetaQuotes terminated its agreement with BlueChip in 2023, citing“fraudulent practices”.

“This is a big relief, but the fight is not over until we recover our money,” said one Dubai-based investor who lost Dh1.2 million.

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