Palakkad: Investors, who were duped by Coimbatore-based Universal Trading solutions (UTS), have been given another 'dubious offer' to get back their deposits.
They have been reportedly told that if they give another Rs 25,000, their earlier deposits along with this amount would be returned by March 16. As it is not possible to make any financial dealings using UTS, which is shut, its Managing Director Gautam Ramesh, a Tamil Nadu native, has started a new company 'Pay Max' and sought the money under a new scheme, ‘merging fund’.
Investors had alleged that the UTS had collected a whopping Rs 3,500 crore by duping people with the promise of doubling the returns within 10 months. But the former company vice-president claimed Rs 8,000 crore was collected.
The Income Tax department had conducted an inspection at the Coimbatore offices of the firm in February last year. Financial dealings of the firm were found to be unlawful and the accounts were frozen. Thousands of investors, including Keralites, were duped by the firm and cases have been filed against the fraud even in Kerala.
The High Court then constituted a settlement commission led by retired judge N Basha to receive complaints and disburse the money. Though some people filed complaints, most refrained from doing so allegedly over fears that they would end up losing more money.
The term of the judicial commission ended last month. Political clout was allegedly used to stop its proceedings.
Meanwhile, the Kerala Police have also intensified the probe into the case and the details of the complaints are being collected at the stations.
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