Sandesh Prabhudesai
19 August 2000
Arun Chawla, a Delhi-based financial criminal charged in a multi-crore financial scam at national level, was arrested by the Goa police yesterday while holidaying in disguise at a five star hotel in South Goa.
Floating a non-banking financial company, called Rockland Leasing Finance Company in 1995, he has duped thousands of investors all over the country for over Rs 11 crore. In Goa itself, he closed the shop in February 1998, cheating hundreds of investors for over Rs 1.5 crore.
The Economic Offences Wing of Goa police, set up recently by the state government to probe into all such kind of criminal offences committed by the NBFCs, laid a trap on a tip off and also seized his Cielo car and other properties in the hotel suite.
"It is a major breakthrough for us", says Karnal Singh, the state DIG. The police had registered an offence against him for cheating and misappropriation of money belonging to the investors. They were offered hefty amount of interest on deposits.
The other directors of the company - Jagmohan Chawla, Indu Chawla, Tarun Chawla, Virendra and V K Jain - are still absconding. But the police are confident of arresting them shortly. All of them are wanted for the offence committed in all 22 branches all over the country, with its head office in Delhi.
The police were handicapped all this time in this particular case due to the stay granted by the Delhi high court, based on an assurance given by Chawla to repay the amount of the investors within stipulated time. The stay was vacated recently due to non-payment.
The EOW of the state police has also re-opened all the closed cases while constituting a team to arrest all the absconders, issuing non-bailable warrants against them. "We have prepared an action plan to curb economic crimes in the state", states Harbinder Singh Dhaliwal, the ASP in-charge of the wing.
The state police has also decided to make fresh efforts to locate remaining movable and immovable assets of such NBFCs, even if the cases were chargesheeted before. The case of the Western India Financial Company Ltd, one such company then headed by union minister Suresh Prabhu, was also chargesheeted by the police without arresting a single accused in the case.
According to Dhaliwal, 56 cases of financial crimes against 21 financial and plantation companies have registered in the tiny tourist state, involving total amount of around Rs 21.98 crore. Only 44 out of total 106 accused are however been arrested till date.
Goa is one of the few states which is now armed with a special legislation, the Goa Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act passed in July last year, providing for stiff penal provisions like a fine up to Rs one lakh and imprisonment till ten years to every responsible person of the financial establishment as well as attachment of property and setting up of special courts.
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