The Banashankari police were inundated with complaints from worried investors, a day after they arrested Raghavendra Srinath, director of Vikram Investments, for allegedly duping as many as 500 people of over Rs. 300 crore.
On Monday, 66 people who said they had invested lakhs of rupees in Srinath's company arrived at the police station with relevant documents to lodge complaints.
“We are taking a serious note of this. Three special teams have been formed to probe the scam,” said DCP South S.D. Sharanappa.
The police have sought the help of private accountants to track the company's transactions and investments. “Investigations so far revealed that Srinath had taken the money to invest in foreign commodities, and promised investors high interest rates,” said a senior police officer. The police have frozen 12 bank accounts where Srinath is an account holder, and seized two cars. “His wife Sunitha, who is the director of the company, is absconding and efforts are on to trace her,” the officer added.
Along with Srinath, four associates of the investment firm — Narasimha Murthy, Prahlad, K.C. Nagaraj and former sports journalist Sutram Suresh — have been arrested.
Srinath visited Malaysia frequently, said the police who suspect he used the money to purchase properties there. “Efforts are on to get more information about his business dealings there,” said the police.
People who have allegedly been duped by the firm have created a group on social media to exchange information and track the case.
‘Used sports journalist and celebrities to lure people’
Investigators said that Raghavendra Srinath, director of Vikram Investments, lured people to give him their money for investment by distributing brochures with photos of celebrities and sports personalities, claiming that they were his clients. “He did this without seeking permission from them,” said the police.
Srinath is an engineering graduate. He started Vikram Investments soon after graduating from college. He set up a head office in Yeshwantpur with a branch in Banashankari II stage. “He appointed K.C. Nagraj, former sports journalist Sutram Suresh and Narasimha Murthy as wealth managers, and offered them hefty commissions to get investors on board,” said the police.
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