CHENNAI: Over two years after the multi-crore Paazee finance scam, involving the deposits of over 40,000 people, surfaced, the Madras high court has described it as an unfortunate' case and denied anticipatory bail to its promoters.

"Money-grabbers have to be dealt with with an iron hand, otherwise, the affected persons would be put to great hardship and irreparable loss and they would be subjected to mental agony and torture," said Justice KN Basha on Friday. He made the observations while dismissing the anticipatory bail pleas of three of the Paazee group directors, K Mohanraj, K Kathiravan and A Kamalavalli.

The Paazee group, based in Tirupur, floated at least 10 companies engaged in insurance, marketing and investments. Said to have been registered in three countries, including Singapore, the company accepted deposits from about 40,000 people, promising attractive returns and interest rates. One scheme promised triple the deposit amount within a period of three months. Ever since the scam came to light, complaints have been pouring in from various states.

Though anticipatory bail was granted to its directors in October 2009 after they promised to deposit Rs 1 crore every week, the directors failed to honour the voluntary undertaking. They had also claimed that a sum of Rs 98 crore was lying in a HSBC Bank account in Singapore, and that they could bring the money to India only if allowed to go on bail. The anticipatory bail, however, was cancelled by the high court, after the depositors refused to comply with court's conditions. The Supreme Court also dismissed a special leave petition against the rejection of anticipatory bail in September 2010.

On Friday, Justice KN Basha, dismissing the latest pleas of the Paazee directors, observed: "This is a very unfortunate case, wherein thousands and thousands of middle income group people have been lured and induced to part with their hard-earned money under the guise of returning the same with lucrative interest. Ultimately they have been cheated by the petitioners (company directors). It is pertinent to note that the amount said to have been cheated by the petitioners runs to several crores and even the investigating agency is not able to fix the exact amount as the complaints are pouring everyday. It is also very unfortunate to note that in spite of granting the interim relief of anticipatory bail by this court, the petitioners have not settled the amounts to the depositors".

A depositor, K Elangovan, has filed a separate petition to hand over investigation to the CBI, as the matter involved several states and countries, where the state police's economic offences wing cannot go and probe. Justice GM Akbar Ali has asked the state authorities to submit reply within a week.

Source :
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/HC-denies-bail-to-Paazee-promoters/articleshow/7524519.cms

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