The Delhi Police on Wednesday nabbed a management and hospitality professional for allegedly duping financial institutions and individuals of nearly ₹300 crore. Identified as Harshvardhan Reddy, the accused is a resident of Cedar Avenue in Chhatarpur’s DLF Farms.
Interestingly, the 40-year-old is a proclaimed offender who is wanted in several cases registered in Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai. He was nabbed at the Patiala House Courts after sources informed the police that he was to appear in the court on Wednesday. “He was under surveillance. He used to come to the courts to keep a check on the cases against him,” said ADCP Chinmoy Biswal.
Reddy has been booked under Section 420 of the IPC, besides other charges.
Modus operandi
Explaining his modus operandi, Mr. Biswal said the accused would open a company, identify posh properties in metropolitan cities and then take a leasehold. “He would forge documents. For instance, he would list 500 sq. feet as 5,000 sq. feet. Then, he would apply for loans. Since the figures were enhanced, his credit limit would increase. He would take the money, but not give it to the property owners,” he said.
The police now suspect that Reddy may have possibly bribed bank officials to not inspect the area before taking the money from them.
The accused told the police that he ran companies like Merit Resort Pvt. Ltd., Aura Institutions Pvt. Ltd., HVR Pvt. Ltd. and Edutech Pvt. Ltd., among others. He allegedly owns luxury cars like the Ferrari California, a Maserati Quattroporte, and several Audi cars. The Ferrari and some other cars were subsequently seized by the SBI, the lender bank. However, he had managed to conceal the Maserati and was using it till he was arrested.
