Mumbai: In a rare conviction, a septuagenarian hotelier was sentenced on Thursday to two-years-jail for duping 19 investors to the tune of Rs70.73 lakh between 1998 and 2002.
The hotelier, Suresh Shetty, director of Om Sai Capital Leasing and Finance Pvt Ltd, had floated investment schemes and collected money by offering a high annual interest on their deposits. The investors had lodged complaints for offences under the Indian Penal Code under sections 420 (cheating) and 406 (criminal breach of trust), and under a provision of the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act against him and his company.
In the 19-year-old case, Mr Shetty’s wife Sunita had also been facing charges, but was given a clean chit in 2012.
Mr Shetty was arrested on March 12, 2003 and had been granted bail the same month. Special MPID Judge MG Deshpande also directed the auction of a room in Mulund belonging to Mr Shetty if an amount available in his 10 bank accounts, along with interest, does not settle the claim of the depositors. It directed that the total amount be distributed to investors.
The special court also convicted the company, which was the second accused in the case. It imposed a total fine of Rs1 lakh on the accused (Mr Shetty) and directed that the amount be distributed among the investors and paid to them as compensation.
Judge Deshpande considered Mr Shetty’s age and health while passing the judgment. It noted that he is very old, ailing and requires help from someone to attend court and has already learnt the lesson for his conduct. It said that a harsh sentence will be of no use as the object of the MPID Act is to protect the interest of depositors.
However, it said, that the way in which such schemes deprive bona fide investors by cheating and committing criminal breach of trust, a sentence has to be imposed so as to convey the appropriate message.
