Cheating people of money by promising quick profitable returns is not uncommon in Mangalore. Here are some of the recent examples.
February 2011
The Global Index, which was located at commercial complex in Karangalpady, was accused of cheating people by offering an interest of 300 per cent in one year. Initially, the firm invited small amounts starting from Rs. 1,000. The firm had hired local candidates as agents. The firm issued certificates for investments and managed to give principal and interest for the first few years. Among the investors include a few police officers and builders. A builder had invested Rs. 1.5 crore. As many as 200 people had invested around Rs. 10 crore in the firm. The Mangalore East (Kadri) police have so far arrested seven of the 10 accused, including the prime accused Suryakanth Jadav, who is a native of Uttar Pradesh. They have so far recovered Rs. 1 crore. All the six accused have been granted bail.
March 2011
Shrihari of S.P.M. Infotech was accused of cheating people of Rs. 12 crore. Shrihari, who ran a travel agency and a data entry firm, attracted investments by promising to pay twice the invested amount in 10 months. The investments were Rs. 1 lakh and above. Shrihari reportedly did provide returns to some of the investors for a few months after starting the operations in 2009. The amount along with interest was being paid in equal instalments every month. Abdul Kasim, an investor, had accused Shrihari of cheating him of Rs. 49 lakh. Another complainant Abdul Sattar was cheated of Rs. 15 lakh. The Urva police are still searching for Shrihari. Shrihari was involved in similar cases in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
May 2011
Five persons have been accused of cheating people of over Rs. 45 lakh through a company called Nano Forex, making people invest in Foreign Exchange trade promising high returns. The main accused in the case, Krishna, is said to have escaped to Gujarat. One of the accused, Lakshmisha Babu, is now in jail. The others, V.S. Raghu, Kishore alias Babu, and Nagarajappa, are out on bail.
July 2011
Meyyaddi (70) from Katipalla has been accused of attracting investment of gold ornaments for Rs. 5,000. Meyyaddi pledged gold ornaments with finance firms to take loans. The amount taken was being paid to women in equal instalments. There were no records of women keeping their ornaments with Meyyadi.
While pledging a set of ornaments, Meyyadi would mention the names of women and the type of the ornament on the loan certificate issued by the finance firm. As many as 16 complaints were made before the Surathkal police after he went missing. Gold ornaments worth Rs. 2 crore went missing.
Meyyadi was arrested and later released on bail. Only a few women got back their gold ornaments, said the police.
March 2012
A number of autorickshaw drivers from Hampankatta Circle, Suraj Autorickshaw Park, Vishwa Bhavan Park, and Navbharat Circle were cheated up to Rs. 1.20 lakh by one Kamath. They said that they trusted the man because he was in this business for over 10 years. The Mangalore East police are on the look out for the accused.
April 2012
Kumareshan, owner of Manju Agencies near Katipalla, has been accused of cheating people of investments made to get household products. Kumareshan, who started the firm on March 25, offered to provide steel and other household articles worth Rs. 2,000 after ten days of making an investment of Rs. 1,000.
Around 40 persons had invested up to Rs. 40,000. Kumareshan allegedly went missing April 8. The Surathkal police are on the lookout.
