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Company shuts down, chief untraceable

Major financial scam in India leaves investors dry
BOMBAY. May 17 Scores of Indian investors today demonstrated outside the office of a major private financial services group after it closed shop amid charges its operations were suspect, reports AFP.
Angry investors met outside the Bombay headquarters of the CRB Group ana decided to march on the headquarters here of India's central bank to demand action against the company chief C R Bhansali. who has been untraceable for several days.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked Bhansali, whose company shut down Thursday, to explain by Monday how he plans to repay investors or face "drastic action."
The group s liabilities total six billion rupees (171 million dollars), while assets are worth 2.3 billion rupees (65 million dollars).
Newspapers said the bulk of the investors money, put In fixed deposits, was ploughed into suspect shares.
Experts have termed the collapse of the CRB Group the biggest shock to the domestic financial system after the 1.3 billion-dollar-securities scam of 1991-92 in which a set of brokers and corrupt bankers used public money to illegally play the bourses.
Besides, investors, several state-owned and private banks were set to lose money, even as a Bombay court Thursday took over the company's cars and
equipment as security for money owed to one bank.
The Times of India newspaper said the worst affected were scores of investors who had put money in fixed deposits with the company.
"They have little hope of recovering their money. Depositors said the Group had been making cash interest payments of around 300 rupees (8.57 dollars). per person till Wednesday.
Depositor Rajesh Agarwal blamed the RBI for allowing the Group to build up. without scrutiny, the image of a large financial services conglomerate.
'The RBI should have immediately made public the results of its probe into the affairs of
the Group. This would have saved a large number of investors." said Agarwal who works with a Bombay textile merchant.
The RBI had been investigating the Group since October and last month asked it not to accept fresh deposits.
Agarwal said he had invested money after friends told him the Group was prompt in mailing cheques for interest amounts.
Retired government officials. clerks, housewives, petty traders and jobless young people put money in fixed deposits with the Group, attracted by offers of high interests rates, cash incentives and gifts such as towels and tea sets.