A private firm engaged in emu farming here has been charged with cheating investors of their promised monthly returns.
The police on Tuesday registered a case against eight persons, including the chairman and managing director of Susi emu farms at Perundurai, M.S. Guru. The district administration also launched a detailed probe into what is suspected to be a scam involving several crores of rupees.
Mr. Guru and seven others of the firm have been booked under Sections 420 (cheating) and 120B (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, based on written complaints from five investors. The complainants claimed that they had invested in the commercial emu farming schemes of the firm, which assured monthly returns. But, the payments dried up recently and requests were not answered.
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Police probe
The police launched a detailed investigation following the complaints. Deputy Superintendent of Police K. Gunasekaran, who heads the investigation, said that investors were turning up at the firm’s head office at Perundurai, claiming that they did not receive their monthly payments. “The owner of the firm is absconding.”
On Tuesday, more than 2,000 persons who had invested in the firm gathered in front of the head office and claimed that they had not received their monthly payments. They alleged that the firm had collected a huge sum as deposits from them promising staggering returns on their investment. But, it had failed to return their money.
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The firm’s office has remained closed since Monday.
The district administration launched a probe under the Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act.
Inspection carried out
A team of revenue officials led by District Revenue Officer S. Ganesh inspected the firm’s premises on Tuesday.
“We have downloaded all the data from the computers at the firm. We are analysing the data to find out the total investments made in the business. It appears that 8,000 to 12,000 individuals have invested their money in the schemes of the firm,” Mr. Ganesh told The Hindu .
Some of the individuals have invested up to Rs. 70 lakh in the schemes of the firm. Companies that supplied feed and other goods on credit to the firm also met the revenue officials and submitted petitions on Tuesday.
“Since the number of investors is huge, we have planned to open special counters to receive complaints after completing our analysis,” Mr. Ganesh said. Steps had been taken up to freeze the assets of the company and impound the passport of Mr. Guru.