A Kurnool district court today sent Chairman and CEO of Amway India William S Pinckney in 14-day judicial custody, after he was arrested by Andhra Pradesh police in connection with a criminal case registered against the direct selling company.
Kurnool Superintendent of Police Raghurami Reddy said Pinckney was arrested in Gurgaon yesterday and was brought to Kurnool on a warrant, responding to a complaint alleging financial irregularities in Amway's operations.
"The CEO has been booked under the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act besides charges of cheating as well as extortion under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)," the police official said.
Incidentally, this happens to be the second time that the Amway India CEO has been taken into custody, after the Kerala police arrested Pinckney as well as two Amway directors earlier, for alleged financial irregularities.
Pinckney was produced in a court in Dhone town (about 50 kms from here) which remanded him in judicial custody for two weeks.
A bail petition was moved in the court, which was rejected and the case has been posted for arguments tomorrow.
Pinckney has been shifted to a prison in Kadapa district, another police official said.
Reacting to the development, Amway, in an official statement released here today, said it was "aggrieved and shocked", since the arrest was "unwarranted" and the case against which action has been taken was filed in December 2013.
"The company had no prior information on the same. Allegations mentioned in the FIR are frivolous and gives a misleading impression about our business," Amway's official statement said.
