Over 500 depositors of Lord Venkateshwara Credit Cooperative Society in Malleswaram have been left in the lurch after the president disappeared with crores of rupees. Besides, Not only that, depositors are staring at the possibility of having to repay the loans availed by the president by making them guarantors through forged documents. The fraud came to light when one of the depositors sought the return of Rs 5 lakh that he had invested two years ago. However, the office was locked and the president of the society, identified as Padmanabha Achar, was missing along with his family.
In his complaint to the Malleswaram police, Vasudeva Bhattacharya, priest from Vyalikaval, said, “Further enquiries revealed that he had sold his house, two other flats and even taken the transfer certificates of his two sons.” As the news spread, more depositors started approaching the Malleswaram police and filed cheating cases against Achar, who had not spared even relatives and his acquaintances. He had started the cooperative society in 2010. Complainants alleged that Achar had induced customers by offering a one gram gold coin after a year of depositing money.