Bengaluru: Police have begun an audit of Vikram Investments’ business dealings, to find out how many people the firm had cheated, and the amount of money involved.
Firm director Raghavendra Srinath, 58, and his four wealth managers are currently in police custody.
A police officer who is part of the investigation said they have roped in a private auditor to look into the firm’s accounts. “The audit will be done for the firm’s transactions from its inception till date. It will take a few days,” he said.
Police said they received statements from banks on accounts maintained by the firm.
“Srinath is still tight-lipped on what he has done with the money. We hope the audit will help us find the money trail,” a police officer said.
Another police officer, citing preliminary investigations, said Srinath may have had to pay returns to old investors from fresh clients, till things caught up last year and he began defaulting. “The accused claim fresh investments took a hit after demonetization,” he added.
Meanwhile, around 50 people turned up at various stations on Thursday, alleging that
Vikram Investments had cheated them of their hard-earned money.
“We’ve received around 350 petitions from victims so far and most of them are hiding the returns they have received from the firm. We are asking the complainants to furnish more documents, including bank statements, so we can ascertain their investments and returns they have received,” a police officer said.
City docs say Srinath, wife, cheated them of over Rs 20 cr
Bengaluru: Raghavendra Srinath’s wife Sunitha Acharya, also a director of Vikram Investments, has been named an accused in at least three of the four FIRs registered against the firm by doctors.
Police suspect Srinath may have taken at least 100 doctors in the city for a ride. They also suspect Sunitha played a role in the fraud, but she is at large.
Dr Suman Singh, a gynaecologist based in BTM Layout, on Wednesday complained to Mico Layout police station on Wednesday, alleging that she was cheated by the firm of Rs 11.34 crore. Mico Layout police named Srinath and Sunitha Acharya, and arrested wealth manager Narasimha Murthy.
Two FIRs were registered on Tuesday by Jayanagar police, accusing the three of cheating two doctors.
Dr Singh alleged that the accused met her in December 2013 and convinced her to invest in their firm and promised her good returns. “I invested around Rs 11 crore in my son Rohan and mother RK Singh’s name, only to be cheated of the money,” she said.
In his complaint to Jayanagar police, Dr DC Mahesh said four members of his family invested Rs 5 crore in the firm since August 2010. “I invested money through Narasimha Murthy. They promised me they would pay returns twice – in January and July every year. They paid us in the initial years but didn’t make any payment this January,” he said.
Dr Brunda Channappa complained that she and her 11 family members invested nearly Rs 4 crore in the firm since January 2014. “The accused failed to pay my returns this January,” she said in her complaint to Jayanagar police.
Dr Balaji R, a resident of Sadashivanagar, complained that Srinath, Sutram Suresh and other directors of Vikram Investments had cheated him and his son of Rs 27 lakh.
“I knew LIC agent Sutram Suresh since 2017. He told me that he was attached to Vikram Investments and convinced me to invest Rs 24 lakh in my name and Rs 3 lakh in my son Smaran Raghav’s name. But they cheated us without paying any returns,” he said in his complaint with police. Sadashivanagar police registered a case against Srinath and Suresh, based on his complaint.
