A 48-year-old stockbroker has been arrested by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police for allegedly cheating former Chairman of Coal India Limited and Padma Bhushan awardee Gulshan Lal Tandon of his life savings through illegal transfer of his shares worth over Rs.5 crore to different companies. Mr. Tandon had passed away in August 2011 aged 80.
Sandeep, a resident of Greater Kailash, had been managing the demat accounts of Mr. Tandon since 2005.
A sub-broker of a Chennai-based capital investment company, Sandeep got friendly with Mr. Tandon over time and lured him into handing over his entire share portfolio promising him 300 per cent returns.
However, in early 2008 Mr. Tandon realised that something was amiss as no dividend or share bonus against the shares transferred at the instance of the accused was accruing to him. On several occasions, he made enquires about it but received vague replies and excuses from the accused. When Mr. Tandon asked him to provide in writing the reason for non-receipt of dividend bonuses from the company, the accused handed him over letters in September 2008 purportedly sent by the company regarding the action being taken.
The accused then started avoiding Mr. Tandon’s phone calls and even refused to meet him. An aggrieved Mr. Tandon then wrote to the broker firm complaining about the conduct of the accused. Although they confirmed that two accounts had been opened by them, they disclosed that a part of his shares were transferred to two other accounts. This was allegedly done without Mr. Tandon’s authorisation. The accounts in question were closed down in May 2008. The company also shared information revealing that the letters produced by the accused were forged.
Mr. Tandon, the country’s first mining engineer to have been conferred the Padma Bhushan, then appointed a person to resolve the matter, but to no avail. Further details that emerged from communication with the firm made it even more evident that the accused had cheated Mr. Tandon.
When Mr. Tandon and his representatives confronted the accused, he sought some time to make amends. However, the issue remained unresolved. In a letter in December 2009, he admitted that certain amount on his part was due to Mr. Tandon, but never made any payment. Mr. Tandon then lodged a complaint with the Malviya Nagar police station seeking action in April 2011, but died four months later following a prolonged illness. The investigation was then handed over to the Economic Offences Wing.
Sandeep, who has studied at Indian School of Mines, is pursuing law from a university in Meerut, the police said.
