Today, he says, he is left with little but regret. It was the entire proceeds from the sale of his property. It was money he had hoped would give him some financial security in his old age.
Because it offered an additional 2 per cent interest compared to banks, he chose the over 150-year-old institution. For Shanmugasundaram, well above 80, the Rs 68 lakh he deposited with the Mylapore Hindu Permanent Fund Nidhi was not just money in a bank account.
Victims Speak Out on Financial Fraud
Shanmugasundaram shared his heartbreaking experience of losing his sister-in-law to cancer, revealing that he lacked the funds to support her during her battle. “I couldn’t save my sister-in-law who fought cancer. I couldn’t spend anything,” he lamented. His story is part of a larger narrative involving thousands of depositors who claim to have lost their life savings in an alleged Rs 700-crore financial fraud linked to the Mylapore Hindu Permanent Fund Ltd.
Hundreds of depositors, many of them senior citizens, took to the streets in Chennai recently demanding government intervention, speedy investigation and help in recovering their money. The case centres on the Mylapore Hindu Permanent Fund Nidhi, which was headed by entrepreneur and politician Devanathan Yadav, who was arrested in connection with the case. He led a small party of his own, called Indhiya Makkal Kalvi Munnetra Kazhagam (IMKMK). For many, the deposits represented retirement savings, medical expenses and the financial independence they had carefully built over decades. “I wanted to lead an independent, dignified life in my old age. I didn’t even leave this with my son. But this is daylight robbery. For them too, what was meant to provide security in their final years became a source of distress. For Jayashree, a heart patient, the crisis also became a medical struggle. “All gone! Life has become so difficult; we have no jobs.
Because she wanted to remain financially independent, devika, who lost Rs 48 lakh, said she had deliberately kept the money away even from her son. He had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Sivaganga as an NDA candidate on the BJP symbol. Court proceedings so far have included conditions relating to a Rs 100-crore deposit in connection with bail. The Madras High Court has also dealt with the fund’s failure to honour payments, with proceedings recording that payments had stopped from February 2024. At least 6,000 people are affected and more than 40 depositors have died while waiting for their money to be returned, according to the depositors’ association. An 87-year-old depositor, who could barely walk as he joined the protest, said he and his wife had deposited Rs 5 lakh each after being offered higher interest for ‘super senior’ citizens. Her family lost Rs 10 lakh, and the monthly interest of around Rs 9,000 that they had depended on has stopped.
The government should investigate and do the needful for us to get back the money,” she said. I need money now for my medicine,” she said.
