Multi-crore fraud case foisted by DMK govt, alleges arrested NDA leader

CHENNAI: A special court in Chennai reserved orders on the bail plea moved by T Devanathan, leader of Indiya Makkal Kalvi Munnetra Kazhagam and an ally of NDA, who has been arrested for cheating over 140 depositors of Rs 24 crore in a chit fund case.

The special court constituted under the Tamil Nadu Protection of Investors of Depositors Act 1997 heard the bail plea moved by Devanathan, who contested in the 2024 Parliamentary election as part of the NDA alliance and was the richest among the candidates on poll fray.

The chairman and managing director of the Mylapore Hindu Permanent Fund Nidhi Limited, one of the oldest financial firms in the country, was arrested on August 13 on charges of cheating the depositors by not giving the promised interest money after the maturity period of the investments ended.

Over 140 depositors had lodged complaints against Devanathan alleging that he cheated more than Rs 24 crore of depositors’ money. The economic offences wing police arrested Devanathan and remanded him to custody based on the complaints.

The investigation agency booked Devanathan under sections 409, and 420 of IPC and section 34 which bans unregulated deposit schemes.

Devanathan submitted before the court that the case was politically motivated and said that he didn’t have any intention to cheat his depositors. The petitioner sought time to return the depositors’ money.

The government advocate objected to the bail petition and said the investigation is still in its initial stages. The advocate told the court that more than 800 complaints were received by the investigation agency and sought to dismiss the plea. After the submissions, the court posted the matter to August 28 for issuing final orders.