According to a police official entrusted with this case, about 50 complaints have been received against the group for not repaying the depositors. The highest cheque dishonouring complaint was for Rs 18.05 lakh. There were also unconfirmed reports that a former deputy finance minister had lost Rs 25 lakh which he had invested with the group. The police have sealed the office premises.

Scores of people continued to queue up outside the group head office in Chennai on Thursday hoping to get some information on the status of their investments.

Meanwhile, Duff and Phelps Credit Rating India Pvt Ltd (DCR) has downgraded Anubhav Plantations Ltd's Rs 50-crore `teak farm'- collective investment scheme from DCR Ind 4 (CIS) indicating unsatisfactory ability to meet obligation of theinvestors to DCR Ind 5 (CIS) which indicates that the scheme has defaulted or is expected to default in its stated obligations.

On July 14, DCR had assigned DCR Ind 4 (CIS) rating for the Rs 50-crore `teak farm' scheme. According to the agency release, efforts by DCR officials to establish contacts with relevent Anubhav officials to seek clarification on various news reports of the company defaulting on payments and its efforts to mobilise funds were unsuccessful. The company has also not submitted its quarterly results.

DCR has stated that it is of the opinion that future operations of the company are likely to be affected and which in turn would have negative impact on the `Teak farm scheme'. Hence the downgrading.

Interestingly, Anubhav Plantations Ltd was the only plantation company to have got the DCR Ind 4 rating. All others were given the lowest rating viz. DCR Ind 5.

Natesan, when he met the media recently to assure investors that all is well, had blamed the Securities & Exchange Board ofIndia (Sebi) and rating agencies for the company's problems. The group has deposits to the extent of Rs 100 crore in collective investment scheme and Rs 106 crore in other group finance companies, he had claimed. As per government approved valuers, the group had teak assets worth Rs 675 crore if felled and sold over a period of three years ending 2000 and was more than enough to meet all liabilities, Natesan had said.