After nearly 10 years of being booked for running a money circulation scheme and duping over 17,800 people, four directors of a Chandigarh-based company, three of them from Ludhiana, were convicted under the Prize Chit and Money Circulation Scheme (Banning) Act and fined Rs 50,000 each.
The convicts have been identified as Manoj Jain (46), a resident of Haridwar; Amrish Sharma (41), his wife Harjinder Kaurand Kulwant Singh Sidhu (41), all residents of Ludhiana.
They are all directors of Best Internet Solutions Private Limited, Sector 34-A, Chandigarh.
Another accused Sapan Jain (47) of Delhi, who is the president of the company, has been declared a proclaimed offender.
All accused had about 20 challans filed against them.
The court on May 23, while convicting the four, held, “The investor will get higher refunds if his investment is higher, provided he adds new members.
The accused were not engaged in any of the business in the name of trading or manufacturing, but were only benefiting from the act of managing the scheme.
There is no denial that the scheme, as operated by them, aimed to enrich its members by only adding more members.
{{/usCountry}}There is no denial that the scheme, as operated by them, aimed to enrich its members by only adding more members.
{{/usCountry}}The scheme they ran certainly falls in the definition of ‘Money Circulation Scheme’ as defined under section (2) (c) of the Chit Fund Act, 1978.”
However, the accused were acquitted of cheating charges as the prosecution failed to prove the allegations.