CHENNAI: The Rs 1,000-crore Paazee forex trade scam, involving nearly 53,000 depositors, is set to see some progress with the Madras high court on Thursday granting bail to main accused K Mohanraj, so that he cab accompany a CBI officer to Singapore and bring back nearly Rs 100 crore lying in two bank accounts there. The court also framed a scheme to repay depositors who lost their money and appointed a committee to oversee the process.

Paazee bubble burst in 2008-09 as its promoters -- Mohanraj, his father and wife -- could not return nearly Rs 900 crore to its 52,893 depositors. It had promised fancy interest rates to depositors, saying their money would be invested in foreign currency portfolio. While several immovable properties of the company were attached, the cash deposit of Rs 90 crore lying in Singapore could not be repatriated, since HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland (originally ABN Amro Bank) insisted that Mohanraj must give appropriate instructions personally. With interest, the deposit has now crossed Rs 100 crore, counsel for investors Maheshwari told TOI.

Mohanraj filed a bail petition, and several depositors and their associations joined as interveners. While Mohanraj said he would cooperate with the CBI to bring back the money from his foreign bank accounts, the central agency said he might flee justice if granted bail.

On Thursday, Justice G M Akbar Ali granted conditional bail to Mohanraj for six months and said he should accompany CBI’s additional superintendent of police S B Sankar to Singapore for two weeks and help bring the money to India. He named retired district judge M Thangaraju as a one-man committee to oversee repayment to depositors.

The judge asked the Indian high commission in Singapore to extend all necessary support to the CBI, and said Mohanraj’s passport should be revalidated in such a way that it should be valid for travel only to Singapore. During the entire period of stay in Singapore, Mohanraj will be under the custody of the CBI officer.

The judge also asked the Coimbatore district revenue officer to take steps to auction Paazee’s properties attached by the court, and complete the process within three months. Laying down a repayment scheme for the benefit of depositors, Justice Akbar Ali said the one-man committee must scrutinize the original deposit receipts of claimants and start repaying money to investors.

The judge said first priority should be given to members of the depositors’ association which had filed the intervener petition in the HC. Deposited amount along with an annual interest of 10%, and not the amount promised by Paazee, should be given to investors, he said. Among investors, those who have not received any repayment should get priority over those who had received a portion of their deposits as repayment, he said.

The committee shall fix a 30-day deadline to receive claims, he said, adding that the inquiry process and preparation of final list of eligible claimants should be completed in three months, Justice Ali said. After the end of six-month period, Mohanraj should surrender before the special court in Coimbatore.

