Prime accused in Ponzi scheme complains of chest pain

Admin   |   01 January, 2016   |   791   |   3980

Mahesh Motewar, Chairman and Managing Director of the Pune-based collective investment scheme company, Samruddha Jeevan Foods India Ltd. which is mired in a massive chit fund scam, was shifted to the Solapur Medical College late on after he complained of ‘severe chest pain.’

Mr. Motewar was supposed to appear in a local court in Osmanabad in connection with a 2012 cheating case after his police custody was due to expire on Thursday.

“A day before his police remand was about to come to an end, the accused repeatedly began to complain of pain in the chest and the back and hence had to be shifted to Solapur. It is doubtful whether he will be produced in court today,” said a police officer at the Murum police station in Osmanabad.

A team of the Orissa police, too, is present in Umarga in Osmanabad to grill Mr. Motewar in connection with the Samruddha Jeevan chit-fund scandal, which has allegedly defrauded several investors in that state as well.

Mr. Motewar, known for his affinity with Maharashtra’s politicos, was detained in Pune on Monday and later handed over to the police who arrested him.

The next day, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided as many as 58 places linked to the Samruddha Jeevan Group of companies, with 40 locations in Pune and their offices in Nashik, Aurangabad, Solapur, and some places in Odisha in connection with the chit fund cases registered in that State.

The police had declared Mr. Motewar absconding since 2013 under section 299 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in connection with a Rs. 35-lakh dairy scam in the town of Umarga after he failed to appear in court.

Despite this, the accused was conspicuously visible in public and roaming about unfettered.

The big blow came when, in the same year, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) barred the company from raising money from investors after a probe unravelled how the firm was hoodwinking small-time investors by promises of fantastic returns through dubious cattle and goat farm schemes. The SEBI probe revealed that the company was running the Collective Investment Scheme (CIS) without the requisite regulatory approvals.

The SEBI finally cracked down on the Samruddha Jeevan group in November this year, when it registered a criminal offence against the company and Mr. Motewar, along with three other directors for allegedly continuing to raise money despite being barred by them.