Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (SP)
Kundapur, Sep 3: Agrigold Constructions Pvt Ltd, which had promised high returns to its investors by claiming to get involved with real estate business, is facing the prospect of being wound up.
Thousands of investors, who got lured into putting their hard earned money into the deposit schemes of the company because of high rates of interest offered to them, have now become clueless as to whether their money is as good as gone, or whether they can hope to get at least a part of it back.
During the last one week, over a hundred customers were seen approaching the company's office here to get refund of the money they invested. Many have complained that the company is dithering in the matter of paying back their deposits even after three months of maturity.
Regional manager of Agrigold, Mohan, and branch manager, Prashant tried to put the blame for the present difficult phase on the recent bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. While agreeing that the company is starved of cash for the time being, they hoped that the situation will improve within the next three months.
The board displayed in front of the local branch office Agrigold claims itself to be a purely commercial business venture. The company claims that 60 percent of the money invested by its customers is being used for purchase of farmland, and the balance is put into real estate business. The company also claims that it gets subsidy from the government, and that running of power projects forms a part of its business.
Although there had been rumours since a year that the said company was on the verge of closure, people from all classes of the society including bank employees are said to have invested in the company, falling to the promise of high returns. However, these customers have now become desperate as the company has failed to pay back their money on the maturity of their deposits.
Several customers said that whenever they approached the office of the company to get back their deposits, the branch manager extends the period of their deposits instead of paying the maturity proceeds back. 'When I threatened the company officials of approaching the media with the details of the dubious stance owned by the company, the employees of the company warned me that in such a scenario, they will desist from repaying my money back,' explained Abbas Kolkere, one of the customers of the company.
A large number of customers of the company have been aggressively following up the matter of repayment of their money with the agents, as they had put their hard-earned money in the deposit schemes of the company on the basis of the trust they reposed on the claims made by these agents. The agents are in an unenviable situation, having been sandwiched between the customers and company.
Hundreds of Agrigold customers are now feeling that they are paying the price for getting attracted to the desire to make a fast buck. Many of them say they have lost hope about getting their money back, having sensed that the company's present position can be compared to a sinking boat.