Sub-broker held for duping over 100 investors

Red Corner Notices To Be Issued For Partners Who Fled Country

By Mateen Hafeez TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: The economic offences wing (EOW) arrested a subbroker and director of Jasani Leasing and Finance Ltd on Tuesday night for duping over 100 investors to the tune of Rs 4 crore.

Jairam Manghandas Jasani (48), who is a resident of Bandra, has been remanded to police custody till February 18.

Red corner notices are also likely to be issued against two other directors who fled to London along with their families on January 9 this year, the police said. The two, Tulsi Pramanand Jasani and Haresh Jasani, have been declared as wanted.

According to police sources, the trio claimed to be sub-brokers of Network Brokers, a firm run by broker Suresh Jain. The trio had been in the business of shares for more than 10 years. When the sensex crossed the 9,000 mark last year, they lured investors to purchase shares of Reliance, Wipro, TCS, Infosys etc saying that they would make huge profits.

“The case came to light when the investors asked the trio to transfer the shares in their demat accounts but the accused failed to do so since they never bought shares for the clients in the first place,’’ a source said.

Complainant Praful Vora, a businessman, accused the Jasanis of issuing bogus purchase bills and misappropriation of funds. “The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had on May 1 last year declared that subbrokers cannot do their own billings and that the billing could be done only by brokers. We will ask their broker, Jain, why he didn’t check the activities of the Jasanis who were billing on their own despite SEBI instructions,’’ said investigating officer Pravin Patil. The police suspect the fraud may go beyond Rs 10 crore.

“Most of their clients were Sindhi businessmen. The Jasanis would provide bogus bills to their clients saying they had purchased shares on their behalf, which they never did,’’ an officer said. “We are collecting evidence against the accused so that the Interpol can be informed through red corner notices,’’ he added.

An investor told the police that he had invested money last year and was under the impression that the Jasanis had bought shares for him. He also told the police that the Jasanis had a good reputation in Bhuleshwar, where they had an office, and so no one doubted their credibility.

A similar case was reported to the EOW in May last year in which a sub-broker Ashit Vinod Shah (42) had duped investors of over Rs 50 crore. Shah was the director of MCI Securities Pvt Ltd. Among Shah’s other offences were not transferring the shares to his investors’ demat accounts and reselling the shares without their knowledge. He also promised several investors interest on share lending and for using their shares but stopped paying them the interest after a short period.

The Times of India, February 10, 2006