NMART ACCUSED BROUGHT TO ONGOLE

·         Rs. 662 crore scam unearthed by Prakasam SP

Superintendent of Police Dr Kolli Raghuram Reddy here on Thursday presented Gopal Mohan Singh Shekhawat, accused in the multi-crore scam before the media.

Addressing the media, the SP said that the accused indulged in illegal money circulation scheme and collected deposits violating the provisions of AP Protection of Depositors of Financial Establishments Act, 1999.

Elaborating on the modus operandi of the accused, the SP said that Gopal Shekhawat through his company New Look Retails Pvt Ltd, collected Rs. 662 crore from 12,02,762 depositors at the rate of Rs. 5500 from each person violating the provisions of the RBI Act, 1934.

The accused gave 48 vouchers each worth Rs. 220 to encashed in the next 48 months. He also offered attractive incentives and gifts to the members.

Following a complaint lodged by a civil society organization Corporate Frauds Watch, the Kandukuru police registered a criminal case and started investigation.

The SP said that though the Kandukuru police arrested Gopal Shekhawat on August 28, 2012, the accused managed to get bail in Mumbai on the promise that he would present himself in the Ongole court on September 1, 2012. However, he jumped the bail and since then he was absconding.

In the meanwhile, the accused secured anticipatory bail from Ongole court in November, 2012, but the Andhra Pradesh High Court cancelled the anticipatory bail paving way for the arrest of the accused, he said.

The Kandukuru and Chirala police earlier arrested the other directors of the company and were sent to judicial custody.

The relentless pursuit of the accused resulted in his arrest, he said and announced rewards to Kandukuru DSP Ashok Kumar, CIs Rayapati Srinivas Rao and Venkateswara Rao and SI Bhaktavatsala Reddy.

The police seized Rs. 50 crore worth property of the accused along with two cars – Rolls Royce and Mercedes Benz – and a helicopter all worth Rs. 10 crore. The police requested the Bank authorities concerned to freeze the accounts of the accused in which there is Rs. 2.19 crore.

The SP said that the accused is also facing several criminal cases filed against him in Guntur, Chilakaluripet, Chirala, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Medak in the State and Kozhikode in Kerala.