CHENNAI: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) CID on Tuesday filed a 50-page chargesheet in the fraud case involving Aarudhra Gold Trading Private Limited in the Special Court for Tamil Nadu Protection of Interest of Depositors Act (TNPID Act), 1997.
Over Rs 17 crore fraud was reported in 360 complaints. More than 3,000 pages of additional chargesheet will be filed within a few days based on over 1.09 lakh complaints,” sources from EOW said, after Additional Public Prosecutor D Babu filed the chargesheet.
Aarudhra Gold, a non-banking finance firm in Chennai, had defrauded the public to the tune of Rs 2,438 crore by collecting funds from over one lakh depositors between September 2020 and May 2022 by promising exorbitant interest rates. When the company didn’t deliver on its promise, investors realised that they were cheated.
Hundreds approached the police across the State, after which, in May last year, the EOW registered a case under several sections of IPC, including 420 (cheating), Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes (BUDS) act and Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors (TNPID) Act.
A total of 21 persons were booked and 8 top executives of the firm including the directors — Baskar, Mohanbabu, Senthil Kumar, and Pattabiraman, and managers Rafik, Ayyappan, and two agents were arrested.
Recently, 2 more persons were arrested, including a suspended functionary of Tamil Nadu BJP, K Harish (31), who was one of the directors of the firm.