From correspondents in Tamil Nadu, India, 12:30 AM IST

Gold coins weighing 71 kg worth over Rs.215 million ($5.37 million) were seized and five employees of a multinational multi-level marketing (MLM) company Quest Net were arrested for cheating, the police said Saturday.

The arrests and seizures were the follow-up of a complaint by an investor, Dinesh Kumar, based here who said the company cheated him of his investment of Rs.62,000 and threatened him with dire consequences if he persisted with his allegations.

Quest Net's international parent company Gold Quest, however, denied the charges late evening and assured its investors in a press release that it was operating legally.

Quest Net's director Pushpam Apala Naidu (45) and four employees were arrested for criminal breach of trust, cheating, wrongful restraint, conspiracy and criminal intimidation under the Prevention of Prize Chits and Money Circulation Scheme Banning Act. They were remanded to police custody.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)