COIMBATORE: The Special Court for TNPID (Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors (in financial establishments) Act cases on Tuesday sentenced a 35-year-old man to undergo ten years of rigorous imprisonment for cheating 13 depositors of Rs 1.80 crore. The court slapped a fine of Rs 1.85 crores.
W Christopher (53) of Ganapathy complained to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Coimbatore on September 15, 2016. He told in his complaint that he was working in a private firm and he used to buy medicine for Rs 10,000 from a pharmacy for his parents every month.
In the course of time, the pharmacy owner A Vinoth Chellasamy, his father A Annadurai, his wife Devipriya, and his sister A Saranya told him that Vinoth runs three more pharmacies and had secured orders from PSU in Tiruchy to supply medicines. The family members hailed from Thiruverumbur in Trichy.
He lured Christopher to invest and promised lucrative returns. Believing his words, he invested `50 lakh and received ` 5.20 lakh as an incentive in 13 instalments. On July 23, 2016, Christopher approached Vinoth Chellasamy and asked to issue receipts and other documents for his investment of Rs 50,55,057. He gave a private bank's cheque leaves. However, he closed his businesses and went missing.
Realising that he had been cheated, Christopher lodged a police complaint, based on which Vinoth and his father were arrested. When the trial was underway, Annadurai died of cardiac arrest. The special court judge AS Ravi pronounced the verdict on Tuesday evening. He was sentenced 10 years imprisonment to Vinoth Chellasamy and was slapped with a fine of Rs 1.85 crores. His wife Devipriya and his sister Saranya were acquitted of the case.