State govt to auction property of defaulters
The Maharashtra government has decided to auction properties of those who have cheated investors of crores of rupees through chit funds and ponzi schemes, home minister R.R. Patil said on
Monday.
“The police has seized property worth `891 crore in connection with the defrauding of seven lakh investors in Mumbai to the tune of `1,175 crore,” Mr Patil said, at a meeting of senior officials, held at Mantralaya to review action against the defaulters.
“Properties of the defaulters would be auctioned and investors’ money paid back, as per provisions in the law,” he added.
Maharashtra was the first state to enact a legislation aimed at protecting the interests of investors, the minister said.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Dr Kirit Somaiya, who had alleged that the state government had turned a blind eye to chit-fund scams amounting to hundreds of crores involving over 100 ponzi schemes, met Mr Patil on Monday.
During the meeting, Dr Somaiya expressed satisfaction over the police action in the multi-crore Speak Asia online investment scam, a spokesperson for the home minister said.
Dr Somaiya had recently claimed that more than 10 lakh small investors have been hit by ponzi schemes. He had accused officials of the Economic Offences Wing of deliberately dragging their feet in their investigations into these companies.
He also alleged that the investigating officials had arrived at “settlements” with the owners of these companies.
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