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Prabhakar cheated us, say Apace investors

Rahul Singh in Indore

Hundreds of investors, who deposited money in Apace group of companies, feel cheated by former Test cricketer Manoj Prabhakar.

The investors say they invested money in the company because of the all-rounder's association with it.

Most of the nearly 400 investors are poor vegetable vendors, petty shopkeepers and even handcart pushers. Many deposited amounts as small as Rs 10 daily to company agents.

Since most investors are illiterate only 11 have come forward to lodge First Information Reports with the police.

Juni Station House Officer Sayeed Aslam Ali Warsi, who is handling the case, said all evidence unearthed so far indicates that Prabhakar was a director of the company, a charge the cricketer denies.

Apace agents used Prabhakar's name to lure investors. They used to show a company magazine to investors. Besides photographs of Prabhakar, the magazine carried his message in his capacity as director.

Mohammed Hussain, 54, a shopkeeper, said, "I was told that the company is run by Prabhakar so it won't sink like other finance companies." Depositing Rs 20 to 25 per day, he had invested Rs 18,000 in the company.

Shriyash Singhal, 25, a wholesale trader who was doubling as an Apace agent, said he joined after a trip to Agra for the company's annual conference addressed by Prabhakar on September 5, 1997. Singhal is one of complainants in the case.

Singhal said Prabhakar's association made his job of convincing investors easy. Singhal himself deposited Rs 50,000 in the company.

Reacting to Prabhakar's statement denying links with the company, Singhal and others say that Prabhakar had signed bond certificates at the inaugural function of Indore branch on December 8, 1997.

Gopal Prajapati, 35, a contractor, whose bond certificate was signed by Prabhakar during the inaugural function, said even before it closed down, a company cheque to him had bounced. Prajapati had deposited Rs 5,000 on the assurance that he would get ten times the amount after ten years.

Another investor, Hasim Ali, 41, who deals in glass, said he invested Rs 65,000 in his wife's name because of Prabhakar's name. 32-year-old Huzema, who runs a provisional store, invested Rs 18,000, also because of Prabhakar.

The agents, who themselves have invested money, now face investors wrath since the Indore branch office was closed on July 15, 1999. Many irate investors are threatening agents with dire consequences and some have been beaten up.

One of the agents, Idrish Mustafa, 24, had to flee the city after some assailants tried to kill him. Idrish had persuaded his clients to invest Rs 7,00,000 in the company.

Idrish's brother, Mustafa Amjerwala, 27, also an agent, had invested Rs 40,000. Now investors are after him to return the Rs 4,00,000 he collected on Apace's behalf.

Another agent, Rajesh Agrawal, 28, was beaten up several times. He was also thrown out of his rented house as his landlord was fed up with frequent tiffs between Rajesh and investors.

Ali, 50, the landlord of the place that housed the company's branch office, has also approached the police. Ali complained that the company has not paid rent of Rs 3,500 per month for the last one year. Ali also invested Rs 8,000 in the company.

Now the only cause of concern for investors is whether they can get their money back. Prabhakar may see the whole issue as a conspiracy against him. But for the poor investors, it may cost them their entire savings.

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