BENGALURU: M Gowtham Chand, Chairman, BgSE Properties and Securities Limited (BgSePSL), formerly Bengaluru Stock Exchange, has clarified that allegations of cheating against him and Vinod Jain, Executive Director of BgSePSL, are false.
The Silver Jubilee Park police had registered a cheating case on August 7 against 17 persons based on an order passed by the magistrate court in connection with a private complaint filed by Mumbai-based businessman Om Prakash Damani, who is a share-holder.
The complainant Damani, represented by his son Vikram Damani, who holds the power of attorney, alleged that he had purchased 18,36,250 shares worth Rs 3 crore in BgSE from 2005 to 2007. When BgSE continued as a public limited company under the name of BgSEPL, shareholders VH Prasad and Jhansilaxmi approached the complainant Damani and alleged that Gowtham Chand (accused No 3), who runs a private company, was attempting to forcefully take over all the existing shares from the shareholders at very low prices.
Damani alleged that Prasad and Jhansilaxmi had convinced him their shares would be sold jointly as a block (a total of 12%). He alleged being induced into handing over a proxy in favour of Prasad and Jhansilaxmi to vote at board meetings or an annual general meeting.
Damani alleged that, in 2020, Prasad and Jhansilaxmi sold their shares to Goutham Chand without informing him, causing losses to him.
However, now Gowtham Chand clarified that none of Damani’s shares were transferred to his and Jain’s names as inadvertently mentioned in the report published in this paper on August 23. He iterated that Damani continues to be a shareholder of BgSePSL with his shares in his demat account, and remains a beneficiary of the dividends declared year on year. Gowthan Chand said the allegations against him and Jain had been made with the sole intention of maligning their reputation.