CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has rejected the plea of the prime accused to compound his offences in the 2009 multi-crore Paazee Forex Trading scam.The prime accused, Mohanraj, claimed he had already returned the deposit money received from 44 depositors and the remaining 1,201 can be paid by liquidating his properties attached by the court and Rs 3.47 crore available with the competent authority.
In response to his plea, the CBI said there are totally 52,893 depositors and only a handful were examined so far and the entire list of depositors along with deposited amount has been filed before the court.
Recording the submissions, Justice RMT Teeka said the total number of depositors cheated by the accused was not 1,201, but 52,893. “Under such circumstances, the petitioner cannot seek orders of this court to direct authorities to compound his offences by invoking its inherent powers,” the Madras High Court said.
It further pointed out that the accused was not only facing charges under the Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors (TNPID) Act, but also under IPC and the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Banning Act, which are not compoundable, and dismissed his plea.
More than 50,000 depositors cheated: HC
The Madras High Court said the total number of depositors cheated by the accused was not 1,201, but 52,893. “Under such circumstances, the petitioner cannot seek orders of this court to direct authorities to compound his offences by invoking its inherent powers,” the court stated