For the last few years, Savithri (name changed), has been anxiously waiting for the day when she will get back the money that she had deposited with a chit fund. Ravindran (name changed) claims that he lost nearly Rs. 20 lakh that he earned by working abroad to a company that promised to return in double.
Many like Savithri and Ravindran have lost their hard-earned money to fraudulent finance companies on promises of high returns. The sense of despair and agonising wait for the money has altered many of their lives. These depositors have been knocking on the doors of the police department to get back the money.
On Monday, about 500 persons, gathered at a marriage hall for an awareness programme organised by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Tamil Nadu.
“Many persons have deposited their hard-earned money with such companies for promises of high interest without verifying if they are authorised. These unauthorised and unregistered chit firms fail to return money. These companies are not registered with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI),” said Senthil Kumar, Inspector of EOW, Vellore.
Despite initiatives to create awareness and alert the public not to deposit money with such companies, many continue to fall prey to false promises and end up losing money, police said.
It is with the aim of preventing people from getting cheated that EOW has launched a State-wide awareness campaign following instructions from senior officials. Awareness meetings with public are being held at all district headquarters. “As part of this, we sent 10,000 bulk SMSes to people in Vellore and Tiruvannamalai with a message to protect their money. Hoardings with awareness messages have been erected at four locations including old and new bus terminuses and Green Circle,” he added. EOW officers and revenue department also distributed pamphlets to the public.
During the meeting, a short film was telecasted. “It is mostly the poor and middle class people who end up getting cheated,” he said.
In Vellore district, there are at least 12 cases against six finance companies. Police officials advise that people can approach the EOW inspector or senior revenue officials to verify whether financial firms are authorised and registered with RBI.
“If they are registered, their bank accounts will be scrutinised by RBI. When their transactions are being monitored, the firms cannot divert the money,” he said.
