MUMBAI, March 8 -- A special court under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act on Friday rejected the discharge plea of Priya Prabhu, an accused in the alleged Rs.100-crore Money-edge Group investment fraud in which around 3,000 investors were allegedly duped, according to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW). Judge Vikram R Jagdale said there was sufficient prima facie material in the chargesheet to proceed against Prabhu on charges of cheating, criminal breach of trust and violations of the MPID Act. The court said witness statements and documents suggested her active role in promoting and operating the scheme. The case stems from an EOW probe into the alleged Money-edge Group investment scheme, in which investors were promised high returns before the scheme collapsed. The police have filed a chargesheet against several accused in the case. In her plea, Prabhu had sought discharge claiming she was not associated with the financial establishments involved and had neither launched nor implemented the scheme. Her lawyer argued that she was "neither employee nor office bearer" of the entities and that provisions of the MPID Act apply only to those responsible for running the financial establishment. She claimed that she too was an investor and had approached police with information and documents relating to investments during the probe. Opposing the plea, the prosecution told the court that Prabhu was a partner in the Money-edge Group and had introduced investors to the scheme. Prosecutors said she had distributed investment documents, pamphlets with her signature, and had bought property using money from the fraud. After examining the FIR, witness statements and other material in the chargesheet, the court noted that several investors had stated that Prabhu had explained the scheme and persuaded them to invest. Holding that there was enough material to proceed with the trial, the court rejected Prabhu's discharge plea and concluded that there was evidence attracting offences of cheating and criminal breach of trust as well as provisions of the MPID Act....