Arrest warrant issued for missing BlueChip owner, who failed to pay court-ordered Dh10 million

An arrest warrant has been issued for BlueChip owner Ravinder Nath Soni after he failed to pay Dh10.05 million within the one-week deadline set by the Dubai Court of First Instance.

The warrant was issued today (June 12), just a day after his 42nd birthday, as per the date listed in his passport.

Last week, the court ordered Soni to settle the amount with a cheque execution applicant or deposit it into the court treasury by June 3. The court’s warning of impending legal action has now culminated in the issuance of the arrest warrant.

Originally from Delhi, India, Ravinder Nath Soni has been a central figure in an extensive investigation concerning the alleged misappropriation of millions of investors’ funds.

The company’s public relations officer, Sandeep Raj, confirmed that Soni has not been in contact for almost a month. “I last saw him about four weeks ago when he mentioned wanting to remove his name from a trade license,” Raj told Khaleej Times this morning.

Operating from the Al Jawhara Building in Bur Dubai, the BlueChip group ran multiple investment companies. It gained significant attention after an endorsement by Bollywood actor Sonu Sood. Under Ravinder Nath Soni’s ownership, the group claimed a $70-million portfolio and served over 700 clients, mostly UAE residents.

They promised investors three per cent monthly returns on a minimum investment of $10,000, secured for 18 months. However, this offer unravelled in March this year when payouts stopped without warning, leaving investors with bounced cheques and unanswered questions.

The full extent of losses incurred by BlueChip investors remains undetermined, though company insiders suggest the amount could exceed $100 million.

Investigations reveal that Soni was involved in multiple fraudulent enterprises. He faces fraud, forgery, breach of trust, and criminal intimidation in India. Court and police records obtained by Khaleej Times show that Soni was arrested in India in 2022 for running a fraudulent investment scheme that promised to double investors’ money. He was released on bail by a court in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, along with a co-accused. Another police complaint, dating back to 2019 in Panipat, Haryana, accuses Soni of deceiving an investor and threatening him with death when he demanded his money back.

Prior investigations uncovered Soni’s role as a manager at Dubai-based Acme Management Consultancy and its sister concern, Acme Global General Trading, between 2018 and 2020. These firms, which operated from the same premises as BlueChip in the Al Jawhara Building, Bur Dubai, engaged in similar schemes, allegedly soliciting millions of dirhams for forex trading, resulting in substantial losses for investors. Among those affected was Priti Rakesh Phillips, a Dubai resident, along with her family and friends, who suffered losses totalling over Dh39 million, court records show.

Last year, a Dubai court ordered Soni to pay Dh2.05 million to another investor.

In another development, it has emerged that MetaQuotes, a Cyprus-based software solutions provider for financial markets, terminated their agreement with BlueChip in May 2023. An email sent by MetaQuotes to BlueChip, as seen by Khaleej Times, cited “fraudulent practices” and breach of contract due to “failure to abide by regulations” as reasons for the termination.