Tamil Nadu IPS officer held in Delhi for Paazee scam

A Selvaraj & Neeraj Chauhan, TNN | May 3, 2012

CHENNAI/NEW DELHI: The CBI on Wednesday arrested a top IPS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, Pramod Kumar, from Delhi's Panchsheel Enclave for allegedly conspiring to get a bribe of Rs 10 crore from a private firm accused of duping the public of over Rs 800 crore.

Inspector general of police Pramod Kumar, 46, is a 1989-batch IPS officer. He will be produced before a designated court in Chennai on Thursday and sent to Puzhal prison. The officer has been on the run for the past several months, said a CBI officer, adding that Paazee Forex Trading Co in Tirupur had allegedly duped investors to the tune of Rs 829 crore.

Earlier, CBI teams raided his apartment at the SAF Games Village in Koyambedu on March 22. Subsequently, police teams searched his house twice in connection with the Paazee case. The officer wasn't home when the CBI raided it.

"I am innocent. I am seeking pardon from God. I have done nothing wrong. I was informed about the raid at my house. I came to Delhi on official duty," Kumar told TOI.

CBI sources said they had taken away bundles of documents from his house after the raid lasting three hours. Senior CBI officials, however, refused to share any information.

The seized material will be scrutinized before being submitted to the court. If we need any clarification in connection with the seized material, we will ask Pramod Kumar," aCBI officer said.

Pramod Kumar was IGP when the scam surfaced in 2008. According to police, K Kathiravan, a reporter with a Tamil daily in Tirupur, and his son, K Mohanraj, started the forex company in the hosiery town of Tirupur in Tamil Nadu in 2008.

Soon, Chennai-based A Kamalavalli joined as managing director of the firm. With agents appointed all over Tamil Nadu, the company collected nearly Rs 111 crore from depositors. Agents got 15% commission on every deposit while 10% commission went to the depositor.

In 2010, CID sleuths arrested those involved in the case. During questioning, the economic offences wing registered 10,332 cases against the Paazee Company for cheating Rs 211 crores of depositors. A few depositors approached the Madras high court seeking CBI inquiry, which was ordered last month.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Tamil-Nadu-IPS-officer-held-in-Delhi-for-Paazee-scam/articleshow/12973788.cms