Around 300 agents of a bankrupt financial company accosted the chairman of the firm when he was released from the Coimbatore Central Prison on Tuesday on bail.
He is accused of embezzling over Rs. 300 crore and cases have been registered in Salem and Karnataka. He had surrendered in January in Chennai and was lodged in Coimbatore prison in January as the firm also had an office here.
According to the protestors, they were agents in a firm called ‘Achievers Agri India,’ a financial firm started in 2007. The Salem-based company employed nearly 45,000 agents and had nearly 2.5 lakh investors and operated branches across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Bankruptcy
It obtained investments for a period of 18 months and promised high returns. It accepted sums as low as Rs. 10 a month to several lakhs. However, in the months preceding January, the firm defaulted on payments and soon declared bankruptcy.
Afterwards, the agents said that they were being harassed by the investors. With the firm having closed down, the agents had no answers on when the investors would be returned their money.
As a result, around 300 agents and some investors gathered in front of the Coimbatore Central Prison on Tuesday and demanded that the chairman, Shiva Kumar, clarify these issues.
After coming out, Shiva Kumar assured the investors that he was on his way to meet the liquidator and said that he would know the financial position within a week. He later went to the Coimbatore District Court.
