City Police disbursed nearly Rs 17 lakh to 125 people, mostly from Nashik, who were allegedly cheated by a realty firm, police said today.
The money was handed over to investors through demand drafts distributed by City Police Commissioner S Jagannathan at a programme here last evening.
District and Sessions court directed the Police Department in May to disburse the money among the people, who had invested in Maitreya Realtors and Construction Pvt Ltd, commonly known as Maitreya Group of Companies.
According to police, more than 29 lakh investors from different parts of the country had invested in the firm, which assured multiple return.
After multiple complaints were lodged against the company, including many by people from Nashik, in February this year, police carried out a thorough investigation and arrested the CMD of the firm, Varsha Satpalkar.
The local court initially remanded Satpalkar in police custody.
Later, the accused was asked by the court to deposit money of the investors in an escrow account (temporary pass through account held by a third party during the process of a transaction between two parties), opened by Economic Offences Wing (EOW).
"Asper the court order, the amount promised by the company will be paid back to the investors through the escrow account. Today we have returned money of 125 investors through demand drafts and the remaining would be paid through electronic clearing system," Jaggannathan said during the programme.
