MANOJBHAI RAMDINBHAI PATEL Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By way of this Criminal Miscellaneous Application under Sec. 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the applicant - original accused No.1 is seeking, inter alia, regular bail in connection with the F.I.R. being C. R. No.11210015210284 of 2021 dtd. 10/12/2021 registered with the D.C.B. Police Station, Surat city for the offence punishable under Ss. 406 , 409 , 420 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code and Ss. 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Gujarat Protection of Interest of Depositors (In Financial Establishments) Act.

(2.) As per the version of the F.I.R., the complainant is a Tax Consultant and running his tax consultancy in the name of R. V. Purohit and Company. The complainant, through his friends - Prasanna Puniwal and Altaf Vadhvaniya came to know that the applicant - Manojbhai Patel (accused No.1) is the owner of IMAX Capital Company and wherein the trading work of Forex Trading and Crypto Arbitrage is being done. As Prasanna Puniwal and Altaf Vadhvaniya were intending to invest in the said company, they also recommended the complainant to invest in the said company. The complainant was informed by Prasanna Puniwal that on 10th November, the owner of IMAX Capital Company i.e. the applicant - Manojbhai Patel (accused No.1) and one Yusuf @ Sher Ali are coming at the Anant Bliss Hotel, Surat. Accordingly, the complainant met the applicant - Manojbhai Patel (accused No.1) and Yusufkhan, wherein the applicant -Manojbhai Patel (accused No.1) has given an understanding that their IMAX Capital Company is registered at Thailand, which is an international company, in which they are doing the investment of Forex Trading and Crypto Arbitrage. The applicant - Manojbhai Patel further told the complainant that he will get 1% interest on the amount he invests in the company and thereafter, the applicant - Manojbhai Patel (accused No.1) organized one event on the same day in the OYO Utsav Hall, wherein a public presentation was done. After an event, the complainant found the said opportunity worth investing and thereby, the complainant has given Rs.12.00 Lakh in cash to the applicant - Manojbhai Patel (accused No.1). Thereafter, the applicant - Manojbhai Patel (accused No.1) instantly opened an ID in the website "imaxcapital.io" and accordingly, he has shown the complainant that the other investors have also invested the amount. Thereafter, the applicant accused has given bank account numbers to the complainant i.e. (1) the bank account of Realtime Trading, (2) bank account Atlal Enterprise, (3) bank account of Avika Mishra and (4) bank account of Wellexa Wellness, and thereafter, asked him to invest the amount in the said accounts numbers and as against that, he will get the slip from the company's website accordingly. One ID Number - IC61841828 was given to the complainant, by which the complainant could see the investment status. Thereafter, periodically, the complainant has deposited Rs.37,06,000.00, Rs.35,00,000.00 and Rs.35,57,000.00 in various accounts. Thereafter, the complainant verified online through his ID, wherein 1,12,840 Dollars were being shown and thus, the complainant felt ensured that the investment is safe. Thereafter, the company has changed the website. Upon being contacted, the applicant - Manojbhai Patel informed the complainant that there is a problem in the website and accordingly, a new website is opened in the name of IMAX Global, in which, the investment of the complainant is shown to have been transferred. However, return of 1%, as was promised, is not given and upon contacting the applicant - Manojbhai Patel (accused No.1) and Yusufkhan, phone calls were not being received. Thus, upon further inquiry, it was come to the notice of the complainant that said Manojbhai and Yusufkhan have also cheated many investors in Jaipur with the same modus operandi. Thus, the complainant has lodged the F.I.R. against the present applicant accused.

(3.) Pursuant to the said F.I.R., the Investigating Agency has carried out the investigation and filed chargesheet. Thus, the applicant has approached the learned Sessions Judge, Surat by way of Criminal Miscellaneous Application No.53 of 2022 dated 8 th April 2022 under Sec. 439 of the Cr.P.C. seeking, inter alia, regular bail, which came up for hearing before the learned Sessions Judge, who, vide its order dtd. 19/4/2022, rejected the said application.