TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Goa Police Economic Offences Wing busted a fake investment racket with the arrest of one of the directors of Parees Enterprises Corporation Limited, Meghashyam Rane and charging of five others for duping about 3,700 Goan investors of a whopping Rs 3.26 crore.
The Kudal-origin accused had surrendered himself before the investigation team on Thursday after the Goa bench of Bombay High Court turned down his anticipatory bail plea last week. He was subsequently arrested and taken to Mumbai via train later in the evening for investigation.
His accomplices including two other directors-cum-partners Vinod Rane and Shyamkant Desai and the trio’s wives are also booked for corruption.
As per investigation so far, the non-banking finance company had lured investors eith promise of high returns. They set up the first Goa office at Calangute in 2004 only to shift to Porvorim and later to Vasco. “They had hired agents who were tasked with getting investors for the company. It was then that the directors started luring people with fake promises of better returns than what the banks offered,” said an official.
However, even after several years, the company failed to repay the local investors following which a woman victim approached the EOC with a complaint of cheating and misappropriation. A team was formed that carried out initial investigation and collected documentary evidence from Maharashtra where its branches are located.
The investigation also revealed that the company procured land worth Rs 1.5 crore at Calangute and in Malvan and Devgad in Maharashtra. However, they once again cheated the concerned agencies by illegally selling the plots. The EOC has registered another offence against them.
