Coimbatore: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) police in the district have sought Rs 1.25 crore from the state government to serve copies of chargesheet in the ‘Fine Future’ scam to all the 47 accused people.
The EOW police were ready to furnish the chargesheet to the accused in digital format, but the latter refused to receive the same and sought the court to direct the prosecution to serve hard copies of the same, as they need to scan the finer details for giving a proper response since all their properties have been attached.
The special court for Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act cases heeded their plea on April 9 and asked the prosecution to serve hard copies of the chargesheet on the accused in 15 days.
The chargesheet runs into nearly five lakh pages and is considered the most voluminous in the state. The cost of preparing a copy of the chargesheet is pegged at Rs 2.66 lakh.
The trial in the case is yet to commence and is getting delayed, affecting thousands of investors.
A source said A Senthil Kumar and M Vivek had reportedly collected Rs 818 crore from 1.72 lakh investors in the western Tamil Nadu by promising a monthly return of Rs 850 for 60 months on an investment of Rs 10,000, which would be returned at the end of the investment tenure. Agents were promised a commission of Rs 2,000 on every investment of Rs 1 lakh.
Lured by the hefty commission, many investors became agents. However, Senthil Kumar and Vivek, who had floated online portals under the titles of Fine Futures India, Fine India Sales Private Limited, Best Way and Way2success, shut their business and fled.
The EOW police arrested the duo from Chennai in March 2013. While Vivek’s younger brother M Nithyanandan was arrested in the case later, R Sathyalakshmi, an accountant of the firm, surrendered before the TNPID court in July 2014. At least 43 agents of the firm were also arrested.
The EOW police have received 25,289 complaints from the victims so far, according to which the duo had cheated them of Rs 189crore. They filed the chargesheet before the TNPID court. The EOW police also have to furnish copies of all the 25,289 complaints, each of which runs into at least four pages, and primary and official witness details to the accused.
“We have sent a letter to EOW superintendent of police M Thillai Natarajan, seeking Rs 1.25 crore to furnish the copies of the chargesheet, along with other documents, to the 47 accused,” said a police officer.