The arm of the Mumbai police that is investigating the NSEL fraud has kept the option of framing criminal charges against brokers open after ascertaining whether they have connived with entities which have defaulted in settling investor dues worth Rs 5,500 crore.

"We have included the term 'some brokers' in our FIR without naming any single one after having received complaints against them from certain investors," Rajvardhan Sinha, additional commissioner of police,Economic Offence Wing (EOW), Mumbai, told ET. "But, we are keeping the option of bringing them in the fold of the accused if we find they have connived with any of the 27 defaulters."

Of the 148 broking members, representing more than 13,000 investors, the big ones include IBMA, which was owed Rs 1,170 crore at the beginning of the settlement plan on August 20, Anand Rathi (Rs 640 crore), India Infoline Commodities (Rs 326 crore), Geojit Comtrade (Rs 313 crore), Systematix Commodities (Rs 277.7 crore) and Motilal Oswal Commodities (Rs 262.9 crore).



Meanwhile, the EOW has expanded the list of persons against which it issued lookout notices from 22 on Friday to 54 individuals last Saturday. Lookout notices have been issued, among others, against Jignesh Shah, chairman & CEO, FT Group, Anjani Sinha, former MD & CEO, NSEL, and key personnel from defaulting companies.

These people cannot leave the country and since last week were given up to 10 days to present themselves before the agency. Asked whether any arrests would follow the issuance of lookout notices, Sinha declined comment. In the latest update to the countrywide raids, the agency has found that of the 65-odd warehouses searched across 184 locations, 30 were devoid of goods and 14 had bogus addresses. In the rest, goods were found by not as mentioned in exchange records earlier.

Further, of the 27 defaulting companies, nine had bogus addresses. For instance, the EOW team found Namdhari Food International had given an address that was actually the office of a chartered accountant Gautam Jain. The team also found that the Bangalore office of Aastha Minmet had closed a year-and-a-half ago.

Sinha, who is leading the EOW probe, admitted that in scale this was the largest he had handled so far. He added his prime objective was monetisation of the assets and tracing the money trail. But, he declined to dwell on the progress the probe had made on these fronts. The investigations so far by the Mumbai EoW have led them to offices and warehouses in 52 cities across 16 states and were conducted by 210 officers and 260 men.

"It will take us about two-three months to establish the money trail... Apart from the exchange and related party accounts we will have to examine personal and bank accounts of all the defaulters and their directors... this is an onerous task," he added. On coordinating with other agencies like CBI, FMC, and EOWs of other states investigating the fraud, Sinha said while information would be shared it was not in the style of the EOW to file a "combined charge sheet." (Economic Times)