Former chief executive officer of TV9 V. Ravi Prakash was arrested and sent to remand by the Banjara Hills police here on Saturday for alleged misappropriation of funds and causing loss to Associated Broadcasting Company Private Limited. West Zone DCP B. Sumathi said they had applied for his police custody.
Whole-time director of the company G. Singa Rao lodged a complaint with the Banjara Hills police on Friday alleging that Ravi Prakash and M.K.V.N. Murthy withdrew huge sums from the bank accounts of the company without following the prescribed procedure and without providing any calculations thereof and without proper approval of directors or shareholders.
‘Three persons involved’
Citing another name, Mr. Rao alleged that the three persons withdrew ₹18.31 crore as bonus and ₹11.74 crore as ex gratia.
“Ravi Prakash and Murthy — who were the directors and authorised signatories to the bank accounts as on the date of drawal of the abovesaid sums — misused their cheque power, which is to be used for the interest of the company, and have withdrawn the amounts fraudulently,” Mr. Rao said in his complaint. He alleged that the amount “misused” by the duo was almost equivalent to the profits of two financial years.
DCP Sumathi said the main allegation was that the money withdrawn citing bonus and ex gratia was used for personal purpose. The police went through Ravi Prakash’s bank transactions. “Approval of the board of directors is a must for withdrawing the amount. We will probe if the money was transferred to personal accounts,” the DCP said.
