Amway India chief's bail petition dismissed

William S Pinckney remanded to judicial custody till June 7

Managing director and chief executive officer of Amway India, William S Pinckney, who was arrested by the Andhra Pradesh police on  Monday, would continue to be in jail for the time being. His bail petition was dismissed by the Kurnool court on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, a magistrate at Dhone in Kurnool district remanded Pinckney to judicial custody till June 7. Following this, the Amway India chief was sent to Kadapa sub jail.

However, Pinckney would  not be kept in Kadapa jail today as he was taken into custody by the Khammam district police in   connection with another case,  Kurnool two town circle inspector of police, J Babu Prasad, told Business Standard.

Based on a case filed against the company by an advocate in Kurnool  alleging unethical practices of money circulation, a police team from the town went to Gurgoan on Monday and took  custody of Pinckney at the company’s corporate headquarters.

The Kurnool police said charges had been filed against Pinckney  under Section 420 (cheating) and Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act 1978 (PCMCS).  The Khammam police also took him into custody on similar charges.

Amway India stated that it was “aggrieved and shocked at the sudden and unwarranted act of detention” of its official.

“The case against which the action has been taken was filed in December 2013. The company had no prior information on the same. The allegations mentioned in the FIR (first information report) are frivolous and give a misleading impression about our business,” the company stated in a press release on Tuesday.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) and the Indian  Direct  Selling  Association  (IDSA) have also condemned the arrest of Pinckney.