Coimbatore : Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors (TANPID) Act Special Court here Monday sentenced three directors of an emu farm company to undergo 10 years imprisonment for cheating investors to the tune of of Rs1.67 crore.

The prosecution case was that J Padmanaban, S Jayakumar and D Rajasekaran, as directors, have started JPR Emu Agrifarms India (P) Limited
at Kinathukadavu on the city outskirts, in 2011.

The company offered two schemes to the investors, who deposited Rs 1.5 lakh would be provided with six emu chicks and shed facility and provide Rs 6,500 monthly incentive.

Rs 15,000 would be given to the depositors as bonus once a year and the capital of Rs.1.5 will be returned after completion of two years.

By another scheme, the firm would give Rs 7,000 as a monthly incentive for every Rs 1.5 lakh investment and bonus of Rs 20,000 once a year and deposit will be returned after two years.

A total of 78 investors deposited i the firm a little over Rs 1.67 crore.

As the firm failed to deliver the promises, the depositors lodged complaint with Economic Offenses Wing of police here in 2013, based on which cases against the company, directors and one staff under various IPC sections including 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) section 5 of TNPID Act, were registered.

A charge sheet was filed before the TNPID court in 2014 and all the four were arrested and released on bail.

Delivering the judgement, TANPID special court judge A S Ravi sentenced three directors to undergo ten years imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 56 lakh on them.

As one of the directors, Jayakumar did not appear before the court, the judge issued an arrest warrant against him and directed the other two to be lodged in the jail.