Probe into Vijetha Farms bungling

HYDERABAD: The state government is learnt to have ordered a CID inquiry into the activities of the Vijetha Agro Farms (India) Ltd, Guntur.
Talking to The Times Of India, S K Pasha, one of the depositors, said the decision to order such an inquiry was taken following a complaint lodged by the Consumer Welfare Society, Mahbubnagar, and the depositors who were duped by the firm.A team of depositors led by Pasha called on chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday and apprised him of the situation.
Pasha said the Vijetha Agro Farms had collected huge amounts from public and defaulted payment to the depositors. The group, according to him, had collected crores of rupees from the general public towards collective investment schemes under different attractive plans. The group lured gullible investors with colourful publicity material which had photos of chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, finance minister Y Ramakrishnudu, Congress spokesperson K Rosaiah, and MLA K Rambhoopal Reddy. The firm had offered returns up to 24 per cent, loans against investments, facility of premature withdrawals, free accidental benefits, resorts and other attractive schemes.
The group had started its business in December 1984. The management collected about Rs 5 crore from the public, but since January 2002 it had failed to refund the maturity amount to the depositors. The company had closed down the Gadwal and Nagarkurnool branches. Quoting a letter written by the Consumer Welfare Society, Mahbubnagar on April 29, 2002, Pasha said all agro farm companies should get permission from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Vijetha had violated the SEBI rules. According to the society in 1999, the Vijetha’s application for provisional registration had been rejected by the SEBI with a direction to make re-payment to the investors who had subscribed to the schemes within two months from the date of receipt of the SEBI’s intimation. But the management failed to do so. The company had given several dates for repayment, but failed to keep up its word. They even collected advanced vouchers from the investors, saying that they would send demand drafts within 15 days but failed to do so.