COIMBATORE: Nearly 13 years after a case was registered against six persons regarding a Rs 2.37-crore emu farming scam in Namakkal, the Special Court under the Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors in Financial Establishments (TNPID) Act in Coimbatore on Wednesday sentenced two men each to 10 years of imprisonment and imposed a total fine of Rs 2.07 crore on them.
According to sources, the two men -- L Chandrasekaran (55) and C Somasundaram (57) -- along with their partners, operated Aadavan Emu Farms at Periyamanali in Tiruchengode, Namakkal district, in 2012. The firm advertised that investors depositing Rs 1.5 lakh would get six emu birds to rear on their farms and receive a monthly return of Rs 15,000 for 24 months, along with four grams of gold as a special gift at the end of the second year. The firm also promised to return the principal amount after two years.
The complainant, R Manonmani (42) of Tiruchengode, invested Rs 1.5 lakh in June 2012, and Rs 11.5 lakh in two separate schemes the following month. However, the promised monthly return of Rs 15,000 stopped after eight months, and by the time she visited the office, the suspects had already absconded. Similarly, 115 people invested a total of Rs 2.37 crore in the scheme, but only received the interest for a few months.
On February 15, 2013, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Namakkal district police registered a case against the duo and four of their partners, including R Ramakrishnan, P Ananthan, and firm manager C Amutha, under sections 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 5 of the TNPID Act.
During the hearing at the special court on Wednesday, Judge M N Senthil Kumar sentenced Somasundaram and Chandrasekaran to 10 years imprisonment each. He also imposed a total penalty of Rs 2.07 crore on them, of which Rs 2.05 crore should be paid to the depositors, said public prosecutor K Muthuvijayan, who appeared for the case.