Three held for cheating 3,000 investors

CHENNAI: Three people including a couple have been arrested by the officers of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) allegedly after they cheated about 3,000 investors in the guise of giving high returns.The company Amro Kings Ltd was incorporated in 2019 with its office in Kodambakkam. The accused were the chairman and managing director of the firm. Rajarajan and Muthulakshmi are a couple, said the police, whereas Ranjith is related to Rajarajan. The trio sought investments with several other companies created as subsidiaries of Amro Kings and claimed to be investing in manufacturing beverages.The company promised 10 per cent profit every month to the investors and promised to return the principal amount after 22 months. Initially, they collected Rs 3.26 crore from 71 investors and failed to provide neither the principal amount nor the profit. Based on a complaint from one of the investors Santha Kumar, the EOW officers registered a case.The accused were booked under several sections of the IPC Act, The Tamil Nadu Protection of Interest of Depositors (TNPID) Act and the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes (BUDS) Act. The accused were produced before a special judge and remanded in judicial custody.Police conducted searches in five places belonging to the accused in Chennai and Kancheepuram. The officers recovered Rs 10,000 cash, 49 grams of gold coins, 450 grams of silver, a car, a two-wheeler, 14 gadgets and other incriminating documents. Police said they have collected investments of Rs 161 crore from 3,000 and defaulted to pay Rs 40 crore as per their confession.Police said, efforts are being taken to freeze their bank accounts and that any victim of the scam by the said company must approach the EOW office in Ashok Nagar.