Coimbatore, Nov 23 (PTI) A court here on Tuesday sentenced two persons, including a woman, to undergo 10 years imprisonment on charges of cheating 99 depositors of Rs 1.55 crore in the poultry business.

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The prosecution case was that S Prabhu and Karthika, as directors, started a country chicken farm in Nambiyur in Erode district in 2012 and six more persons were working with them.

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To lure investors, the firm announced two schemes, offered to set up temporary sheds and provide 500 chicks and feed for those investing Rs one lakh, with a promise of Rs 8,500 per month for three years and bonus of Rs 8,.500 once a year.

The second scheme offered a temporary shed with 300 chicks to those investing Rs one lakh and to pay Rs 8,500 as monthly incentive for three years and Rs 12,000 as bonus once a year.

The firm had reportedly collected Rs1.55 crore from 99 investors and cheated all of them without fulfilling the promise.

The Economic Offences Wing had registered a case against the firm after complaints from investors, for criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and cheating under IPC sections and also under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors (in financial establishments) (TANPID) Act.

Delivering the judgement, Judge A S Ravi sentenced Karthika and Prabhu to 10 years' imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1.65 crore on them.

However, the six others were acquitted in the case.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)