Wife of Samruddha Jeevan chit fund scam-accused arrested

Leena Motewar allegedly kept 8kg gold with driver during CBI raids The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested Leena Motewar (42), wife of Mahesh Motewar (the chairman and managing director of Samruddha Jeevan Foods India Limited ) in connection with a chit fund scam. The CID’s Pune unit detained Ms. Motewar late on Wednesday following a chance inquiry by Crime Branch officials into a missing box of gold which she had allegedly given to her driver for safekeeping. According to sources, Ms. Motewar had entrusted her driver with around 8 kg gold in two boxes after officials from the Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) raided properties owned by the couple and 58 places linked to the Samruddha Jeevan Group, in January. The CBI had searched 40 places in Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Solapur and Odisha. The Crime Branch got wind of the gold following a burglary at the driver’s house, in which one of the boxes was stolen. After questioning the driver, officials found that the trail led to Leena Motewar herself. The CBI has already arrested Mahesh Motewar and is questioning him about his role in the multi-crore Ponzi scam. The company, Samruddha Jeevan, headquartered in Pune’s Shivajinagar area, has been accused of cheating small investors with the promises of high returns through unauthorised cattle and goat farm schemes. The company had, under various schemes, offered to double the investors’ money in five-and-a-half years, while promising an amount equivalent to one-and-a-half times the contract value as “accidental death help”. In 2013, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) barred the company, and its directors from raising money from investors who mostly hailed from rural and semi-urban areas. The SEBI cracked down on the group in November last year. A case was filed at the Deccan Gymkhana Police Station in Pune under Sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal code. A criminal offence was registered against the company and its four directors — Mahesh and Leena Motewar, Ghanshyam Patel and Rajendra Bhandare — for allegedly violating the SEBI ban. The Crime Branch got wind of the gold following a burglary at the driver’s house