A day after giving the Directorate of Enforcement a slip, the owner couple of scam-hit Highrich Online Shoppe Private Limited moved a special court seeking anticipatory bail.

The special court hearing cases registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act is likely to take up the bail petition of Highrich CEO Sreena Prathapan and her spouse and Managing Director K D Prathapan on Thursday, said an ED official.

The Prathapans are accused of duping people of crores of rupees by allegedly running a pyramid scheme under the garb of an online retail store.

A pyramid scheme is an illegal investment scheme where each member recruits two new persons and their investment is used to pay early investors. Fraudsters often blend the pyramid scheme, which promises high returns, with a multilevel marketing scheme to give it an air of legitimacy.

Cherpu Police in Thrissur district had registered a case against the couple and directors of Highrich under the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Scheme (BUDS) Act.

Thrissur Collector had issued an order to provisionally attach the movable and immovable assets of Highrich and its owners under the BUDS Act.

The couple lives in a rented house at Cherpu and runs their businesses from rented buildings, said police.

Around 7 am on Tuesday, January 23, ED officials reached their house. But moments before their arrival, the couple left in their chauffeur-driven car.

ED tried to give the car a chase but gave up and informed the police. Congress leader and former Wadakkanchery MLA Anil Akkara, a complainant, alleged that the couple was tipped off by the local police about the searches by ED.

Akkara alleged that the couple had duped around 1.5 lakh investors.

The central agency, mandated to investigate money laundering cases and violations of foreign exchange laws, conducted searches at their house and office building till Tuesday evening and collected documents.

The Income Tax department is also probing a GST fraud of Rs 126 crore against Sreena Prathapan and Prathapan.