The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took Mahesh Motewar, chairman and managing director of the scam-hit Samruddha Jeevan Foods India Ltd, into custody late on Tuesday.
He has been remanded for five days in the agency’s custody. The company is accused of cheating small investors promising them high returns through unauthorised cattle and goat farm schemes. Mr. Motewar has a rash of malpractice cases registered against him. In 2012, the Osmanabad district police had filed a case against him in connection with a Rs. 35 lakh dairy scam in the town of Umarga.
In 2013, the Securities and Exchange Board of India barred the company, headquartered in Pune’s Shivajinagar area, and its directors from raising money from investors, mostly hailing from rural and semi-urban areas.
In December last year, the CBI raided 58 places linked to the Samruddha Jeevan Group in Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Solapur and Odisha.
