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MAHARASHTRA State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested a key absconding accused in connection with the Rs 4,700-crore chit fund scam by the Pune-headquartered Samruddha Jeevan Group, in which close to 64 lakh small investors across India were swindled with promises of huge returns on various agri schemes including cattle and goat farms.
The investigation by the CID pertains to multiple offences registered in Pune, Jalgaon and Osmanabad districts of Maharashtra in 2015 and 2016 against the companies of the Samruddha Jeevan Group. The group’s Chairman and Managing Director Mahesh Motewar, some of his family members, various office-bearers of the group are facing as many as 26 criminal cases filed by agencies including the Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate and the state police of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Jharkhand, and Andhra Pradesh among others.
Following a specific input, Ramling Hinge (56) — who was one of the Directors of the group and was absconding since last seven years — was placed under arrest by a team of the CID. “Till now 16 of 25 accused in the case have been arrested. In the recent past, we had focused the investigation on tracing and arresting the absconding accused in the case and probing their role in the overall conspiracy. We will continue to do so in the coming days, in this particular investigation and some other key cases too,” said Prashant Burde, CID chief and Additional Director General of Police.
The investigating officers received a tip-off that Hinge was coming to a movie theatre on Satara Road on Wednesday. A trap was laid and Hinge was placed under arrest. An officer said that, as the Director of the group, Hinge had played a key role in the criminal conspiracy of misappropriation of the funds. All the 16 persons arrested prior to Hinge’s arrest — which includes Motewar and his family members — are currently out on bail.
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had found that along with several allegations of irregularities and malpractices, the company was running the scheme without adequate authorisations which were made mandatory by the laws.Probe by investigation across had revealed that as many as 64 lakh investors were cheated to the tune of Rs 4,725 crore. As many as 18 lakh of those investors were from Maharashtra.
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