By Rohini Sridharan
On 26th August 2022, Mr K. Mohanraj and Mrs. Kamalavalli were sentenced to Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) along with a fine of Rs 42.76 crores each. The verdict was delivered by the TNPID Special Court in Coimbatore. The case centred around a massive forex scam carried out under the banner of Paazee Forex Trading India Pvt Ltd and its sister concerns. Around 45,000 depositors fell victim to the scam. They were lured through various enticing offers and financial schemes promising high returns.
The case dates back to 2011, when an FIR was first filed at the Tiruppur North Police station. The complaint came from the affected depositors themselves. Following this, a charge sheet was filed by the local police based on the Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) (TNPID) Act, 1997. “Months later, the depositors approached the High Court. The Madras High Court then ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the case,” said T Sridharan, one of the investigating officers in the bench of investigating officers of this case headed by Mr. S.B Shankar.
Paazee Marketing Company was based in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruppur and run by Mohanraj and others. Between July 2008 and September 2009, the company floated various financial schemes. Through these schemes, it cheated depositors to the tune of Rs 870.1 crore. The money was collected from depositors on the false promise of high returns, according to the statement.
Public Prosecutor Natarajan explained how the trial was structured. All depositors were taken as witnesses,” he said. He also added that “Investigations were done and a charge sheet was filed. Properties were recovered in civil recovery proceedings.” This indicates that the initial groundwork, including investigation and civil recovery of properties, was carried out by the Tiruppur Police before the case was escalated to the CBI as a matter of larger interest.
The investigating officer further revealed that the accused had tried to evade the law once the case gained wider scrutiny. “The directors of the company absconded and evaded and CBI found them within 2 months of taking over the case,” he said. He added that the agency used certain specific scientific techniques to track down and apprehend the missing accused, who had gone into hiding to escape prosecution.
Over the course of the investigation, which spanned 11 long years from 2011 to 2022, the investigating team and public prosecutors examined and recorded statements from around 1,400 depositors. This was a mammoth exercise given the scale of the fraud and the sheer number of people affected across the state.
After this extended legal battle of nearly 11 years, the prosecution succeeded in proving the guilt of two of the three accused, Mr Mohanraj and Mrs Kamalavalli. The third accused, Mr Mohanraj’s father, passed away during the course of the trial, before the case could reach its conclusion. Several lawyers represented the accused at different stages of the trial, but the final one to argue the case in the trial court was Advocate Shankar.
As things stand today, both convicted individuals remain in prison, serving their sentence. Meanwhile, their appeal against the conviction has been pending before the Madras High Court for the last four years, still awaiting even a hearing date.