Chennai, May 6 : A Malaysian woman entrepreneur has been detained by Chennai police for alleged fraud.

The police have also issued an all-points bulletin (APB) on the founder of the company, believed to be a Malaysian "datuk", to facilitate investigations into the case.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Chennai), G. Sampath Kumar, said the 45-year-old woman was picked up two nights ago after police received numerous complaints from investors against the company, QuestNet, of which she is managing director.

He said police sealed the company premises and also detained her seven employees.

Sampath was quoted by the Strait Times as saying that initial investigations revealed that the company allegedly failed to keep its promise to pay returns to those who invested in the company.

"We have received 1,837 complaints against QuestNet so far, not only from Chennai but also from other parts of Tamil Nadu, and Andhara Pradesh, as well," he said.

Sampath said the police had registered a case against the Malaysian "datuk" on the basis of the complaints.

"We have placed him as the number one suspect in the list while the other suspects are the woman and her employees for criminal breach of trust," he added.

An assortment of gold coins weighing 87kg and silver coins weighing 889kg, watches and mobile phones worth millions of ringgit were seized from the company premises located in Chennai.

According to sources, the quantum of cases could be more than what was initially reported and India's premiere investigation agency, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), would be called in to probe the case further.

Meanwhile, Sampath said Chennai Police wanted to contact Datuk Vijay Eswaran, founder of QI, which is headquartered in Hong Kong, to assist in investigations.

QuestNet Enterprises India Pvt Ltd is the marketing and distribution arm of QI Group, a direct marketing company that has offices in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. (ANI)