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Chennai Depositors Protest Rs 700-Crore Mylapore Fund Collapse

14 hours ago

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Thousands of depositors, many elderly, say they lost their savings in an alleged Rs 700-crore fraud at Chennai's Mylapore Hindu Permanent Fund.

Hundreds of depositors, most of them elderly, marched through Chennai recently to demand a swift investigation and the return of savings they say vanished in an alleged Rs 700-crore fraud at the Mylapore Hindu Permanent Fund Ltd. The protesters called for government intervention and help recovering money that, for many, represented a lifetime of earnings.

The case centres on the Mylapore Hindu Permanent Fund Nidhi, which was led by businessman and politician Devanathan Yadav. He has been arrested in connection with the matter. According to the depositors' association, at least 6,000 people have been affected, and more than 40 of them have died while still waiting to be repaid.

One of those still fighting is Shanmugasundaram, a man well into his eighties who placed Rs 68 lakh with the fund. The amount was everything he had received from selling his property, set aside to keep him secure in his final years. He picked the fund, an institution more than 150 years old, because it paid two percentage points more than the banks. He now says the decision cost his family dearly. He recalled being unable to help his sister-in-law during her battle with cancer, and being unable to touch the savings when they were needed most.

The fund's troubles are already before the courts. The Madras High Court has taken up its failure to meet payment obligations, with proceedings noting that payouts halted in February 2024. Bail-related proceedings have included conditions tied to a Rs 100-crore deposit. The Economic Offences Wing is carrying out its own inquiry into the alleged financial irregularities.

Depositors want the response widened and sped up. They are pressing for a dedicated fast-track court to hear the case, a forensic audit of the fund's books, and a thorough investigation into how the money was handled. They also want the authorities to attach and sell off properties and assets, where the law allows, so that the proceeds can go back to those who lost their deposits.

The personal accounts from the protest lay out the scale of the loss. Devika, who put in Rs 48 lakh, said she had kept the money separate even from her own son so she could stay financially independent in old age. She described the collapse as daylight robbery and urged the government to act so depositors could recover what they were owed.

Another demonstrator, aged 87 and barely able to walk, said he and his wife had each deposited Rs 5 lakh after the fund offered a higher rate to what it termed super senior citizens. What was meant to cushion their last years instead became a source of hardship.

For Jayashree, a heart patient, the failure has turned into a health emergency. Her family lost Rs 10 lakh, and the roughly Rs 9,000 in monthly interest they had leaned on has dried up. She said the family had no work to fall back on and that she urgently needed money to pay for her medicines.

Devanathan Yadav's public profile adds a political dimension to the case. He ran in the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Sivaganga, standing as an NDA candidate on the BJP symbol. He also headed his own small outfit, the Indhiya Makkal Kalvi Munnetra Kazhagam.

Across the crowd, depositors described the same sequence of events. Cheques bounced, deposits that had matured were never paid out, and the regular interest that many households relied on simply stopped, leaving families scrambling to cover everyday costs. For depositors who had counted on the fund to carry them through retirement and medical bills, the wait for justice has become a daily struggle to get by.

Mylapore Hindu Permanent Fund, Rs 700 crore scam, Chennai depositors protest, Devanathan Yadav, Economic Offences Wing, Nidhi fund fraud, senior citizen savings, fast-track court

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