VELLORE:A 35-year-old man running an illegal chit fund firm was arrested by the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) on Friday on charges of cheating hundreds of depositors to the tune of more than Rs 4 crores. A car too has been seized from him.
Police said S Siva, of Poigai village, has been running an illegal chit fund firm ‘Sri Jalagandeswarar Auto Finance and Chit,’ from 2000 without getting it registered. Fooled by the terms offered by him, thousands of people from in and around Poigai village joined the firm as subscribers and deposited lakhs of rupees. However, for the last two to three years, Siva has not repaid the depositors’ amount and have been dodging them.
The incident came to light only on Thursday when Mayakannan of Konavattam and four others filed a complaint with the EOW stating that Siva had cheated them to the tune of Rs 19.54 lakh. Following the complaint, Siva was arrested. After his arrest, many others also gathered in front of the District Police Office to lodge complaints against him.
The complainants said that more than 5,000 people have deposited cash ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh each in the firm. Some of the depositors, who demanded their money, were reportedly threatened and assaulted by Siva. A case too was registered against him in this regard, a few months ago.
“Preliminary inquiry revealed that Siva had cheated people to the tune of over Rs 4 to 5 crores. After collecting all the information, we will send a proposal to the government to attach his properties for the purpose of repaying the depositors,” said A Sethupathy, Inspector of EOW, Vellore. A case was registered under sections 120 (b), 406 and 420 of IPC read with 5 of the TN Protection of Interests of Depositors (In Financial Establishments) Act 1997.