A sessions court on Monday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of a woman - the director of an agro firm, in a case wherein she had allegedly cheated the complainant of Rs. 9.16 crores after inducing into investing with assurance of huge returns.
The court while rejecting Malathi Pillai’s plea said that a prima-facie case of cheating is made out against her, the magnitude of the offence is huge and needs to be investigated thoroughly for which custodial interrogation is necessary.
The allegations prima-facie show that the accused since the inception of the transaction had the intention to cheat the informant, the court said, remarking on the way a rosy picture was created of huge returns to induce the informant into investing.
Pillai’s advocate had told the court that she had never made false representation or cheated the informant. According to the complaint registered with the Economic Offences Wing, Pillai - the director of Shreenathji Agro Food Company had told the informant that she had good contacts with union ministers and bureaucrats.
The informant found that the cheques issued by Pillai as security had bounced. The EOW had told the court opposing the anticipatory bail that the amount invested by the informant in the company had been transferred to her personal account. Huge amounts had thereafter been drawn from ATMs and used for purchases as well as transferred to other companies, it told the court.
Further the EOW informed the court that the accused is a habitual offender and that a cheating case is registered against her in Nashik too.
