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Pharma firm chief arrested for fraud
In a major breakthrough, the Indore police on Monday arrested a top businessman and managing director of a pharmaceuticals company from the Mumbai domestic airport. The accused, Manoj Kothari was wanted by Indore police in various cases of cheating and fraud. Notwithstanding a permanent warrant, Kothari had been evading arrest for long, said SSP A Sai Manohar.
The city police had announced a cash reward of `25,000 on his arrest, the SSP said adding that Kothari had allegedly duped a large number of investors who had invested their hard-earned money in a fixed deposit scheme of the company. Cases of cheating and fraud had been lodged against the businessman with Sanyogita Ganj police station in the city, the SSP said.
Kothari, who had established his company with its headquarters in Indore, had also started a fixed deposit scheme, promising a return of 12.5% to the investors. Through the scheme, the company had mopped up Rs 3.5 crore and had distributed advanced maturity cheques to the investors.
However, the fraud came to light when the maturity cheques issued to about 500 investors bounced in May 2009 (maturity year for the FD scheme).
Infuriated over the fraud, the investors lodged a complaint with the Indore police on September 5, 2009 against Kothari, his wife Anju Kothari and the then whole-time director of the company, Kirti Kumar Shah.
However, Indore police could not take action against the accused as all of them were absconding.
Since then, the investors, including some elderly people, had been running from pillar to post to get their money back and action against the
guilty, but all their pleas fell on deaf ears despite assurances from the Chief Minister, Home minister and other senior police officials.
A case has been lodged with the Vijaynagar police station here against Kothari under the Madhya Pradesh Investment Protection Act and relevant sections of the IPC, SP Amrendra Singh said, adding that his wife was also a co-accused in the case and was absconding. The accused was being brought to Indore, police said.
In a major breakthrough, the Indore police on Monday arrested a top businessman and managing director of a pharmaceuticals company from the Mumbai domestic airport. The accused, Manoj Kothari was wanted by Indore police in various cases of cheating and fraud. Notwithstanding a permanent warrant, Kothari had been evading arrest for long, said SSP A Sai Manohar.
The city police had announced a cash reward of `25,000 on his arrest, the SSP said adding that Kothari had allegedly duped a large number of investors who had invested their hard-earned money in a fixed deposit scheme of the company. Cases of cheating and fraud had been lodged against the businessman with Sanyogita Ganj police station in the city, the SSP said.
Kothari, who had established his company with its headquarters in Indore, had also started a fixed deposit scheme, promising a return of 12.5% to the investors. Through the scheme, the company had mopped up Rs 3.5 crore and had distributed advanced maturity cheques to the investors.
However, the fraud came to light when the maturity cheques issued to about 500 investors bounced in May 2009 (maturity year for the FD scheme).
Infuriated over the fraud, the investors lodged a complaint with the Indore police on September 5, 2009 against Kothari, his wife Anju Kothari and the then whole-time director of the company, Kirti Kumar Shah.
However, Indore police could not take action against the accused as all of them were absconding.
Since then, the investors, including some elderly people, had been running from pillar to post to get their money back and action against the
guilty, but all their pleas fell on deaf ears despite assurances from the Chief Minister, Home minister and other senior police officials.
A case has been lodged with the Vijaynagar police station here against Kothari under the Madhya Pradesh Investment Protection Act and relevant sections of the IPC, SP Amrendra Singh said, adding that his wife was also a co-accused in the case and was absconding. The accused was being brought to Indore, police said.
