Pune Chit Fund Scam: Court issues proclamation notice against Vaishali Motewar

A SESSIONS court in Pune has issued a proclamation notice against Vaishali Mahesh Motewar to remain present before it on December 7, 2016, in connection with the chit fund scam of 2014. The offence in this case was registered at the Chaturshringi police station under sections 406, 409, 420, 120 (b) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 3, 4 of Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act. Watch What Else Is Making News Resident of Ganraj Heights, in Patil Nagar, Vaishali is wife of Mahesh Kisan Motewar, the chairman and managing director of the controversial multi-crore collective investment scheme company, Samruddha Jeevan Foods. In 2013, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had barred the directors of the company, headquartered at Shivajinagar in Pune, from raising money from investors. In November 2015, a SEBI officer, Sachin Sonavane, lodged a formal FIR with the Deccan Gymkhana police station against the company and its four directors, Mahesh Kisan Motewar, Vaishali Motewar, Ghanshyam Patel and Rajendra Bhandare, for allegedly continuing to raise money from investors despite the ban. The company had been collecting money from small investors, most of whom were from rural and semi-urban areas, with promises of huge returns on investment in cattle and goat farms. SEBI had found that besides facing several allegations of illegal practices, the company was running the scheme without proper approval. It may be recalled that Motewar was arrested in December 2015 from Pune by the Osmanabad police, in connection with a case of cheating registered in 2012.