Trader held for duping investors of crores

MSU Chancellor Among Victims

By Mateen Hafeez/TNN

Mumbai: The chancellor of Vadodara’s M S University, Mrunalinidevi Puar, is one of the six victims duped by a 60-year-old businessman arrested last week for failing to pay them interest as high as 24% on their investments in his company for about a decade.

The accused, Jagdish Parekh, was arrested on Tuesday evening by the economic offences wing (EOW) of the crime branch for allegedly cheating these six persons to the tune of Rs 1.67 crore, which has now bloated to a staggering Rs 2.94 crore with interest.

Puar, who had invested Rs 25 lakh in 1996, is yet to come to Mumbai for her ‘witness’ statement.

An officer attached to the EOW said Parekh, an architect by profession, had approached many people offering them as high as 50% returns on their investment in his company, Jugle Chemicals. But finding no takers, he again approached them saying that his other company, R J Investment, was making huge profits and convinced them to invest money in it for 24% interest.

According to the police, the victims had invested money in 1995-96 and they received the promised returns for only three to four months. Parekh then stopped the payments saying that his company was in a financial crisis.

A complainant, Kala Kumar Bhogale, an architect from south Mumbai, said he invested money in Parekh’s company in good faith. “I was introduced to Parekh by one of our common friend, Moti Daryanani. My friend had told me that Parekh was a big businessman and I would make huge profit if I join hands with him. It’s almost a decade and we are still waiting for our money,’’ Bhogale said.

Elaborating the case, inspector Ashokh Jadhav, who is investigating the case, said: “When Parekh could not pay on time, he told investors that he had two flats in Wadala and would keep the flats with them as ‘security’. However, he did not give them the possession of the flat.’’

Jadhav further added that Parekh justified his failure to return the investors’ money saying that he had to shut down his factory, Shree Dye Chems, following a Bombay high court order.

Later, Parekh took a loan of Rs 3 crore from the Bank of Baroda, Mumbai, and mortgaged his plot at Wadala. Though he constructed a six-storeyed building on this plot, he failed to repay the bank loan. Bank of Baroda then approached the debt recovery tribunal, which appointed a court receiver. While a private financier repaid Parekh’s bank loan, the investors were still chasing him.

The Times of India, May 2, 2005