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Case of cheating Pune investors filed against Maneckshaw

Michael Gonsalves in Pune

The Pune police on Tuesday lodged a criminal case against Field Marshal Sam Maneckshaw on charges of cheating city investors of the Asia Pacific Investment Trust Limited, a finance company of which he is the chairman.

The cheating case was filed when an investor Chaugonda N Patil from Palus colony at Kirloskwarwadi lodged a first information report with the Pune crime branch accusing Field Marshal Maneckshaw and other directors of the company of duping him.

Interestingly, the Pune police were compelled to register the criminal case against Maneckshaw after over 50 aggrieved members of the Pune Agents and Investors' Association staged demonstrations in front of Police Commissioner K K Kashyap's office demanding that a cheating case be immediately be filed against Maneckshah and his associates.

An association delegation led by Kamlakar Badbade, Deepak Sevekari and Purushotam Joshi met Police Commissioner Kashyap and handed over a memorandum of their demands. After over an hour of discussion, Kashyap directed the crime branch to register the case. He also directed Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ramrao Pawar to take over the investigations.

In his FIR, Patil said he had invested Rs 77,000 with the company as fixed deposits opened in his name, his wife and two sons on February 16, 1997.

The Kirloskarwadi-based agent, through whom the transaction was carried out, had assured Patil that he would be paid 15 per cent annual interest, it added.

Under the agreement with the company, the interest was to be deposited in his savings account with the Kirloskarwadi branch of Bank of Maharashtra. But the interest was never deposited, the FIR stated.

The fixed deposits opened in Patil's name, his wife and two sons matured on February 17, 1998, it added.

When Patil made enquiries with the APITL branch in Pune, he learnt much to his dismay that it had shut down its office at Shukrawar Peth, Pune in February 1998.

Pawar said since then eight investors had moved applications before the police alleging that they were duped by the company.

In the memorandum submitted to the police commissioner, the investors have charged Field Marshal Maneckshaw with misusing his position, reputation and authority to cheat them.

The investors stated that they trusted Field Marshal Maneckshaw because of his public stature and reputation and invested their life-time earnings in APITL.

The investors said they were attracted by the advertisement placed in prominent dailies with the Field Marshal endorsing APITL.

Interestingly, the advertisement read: ''I have saved the country and shall save the investors' money too. After all I have a reputation to live up to.''

Besides the advertisements, the company had also distributed handbills which also carried similar endorsement by Maneckshaw, the investors pointed out.

They were carried away by the endorsement, coming as it did from no less a ''legend'' than Field Marshal Maneckshaw himself.

The investors said Maneckshaw was not only the chairman of the APITL but also the director of Prudential Capital Markets and other finance companies. He should be booked for cheating investors by misusing his government position, the complainant stated.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Paw is investigating the case.