BENGALURU:
Police have begun an audit of
Vikram Investments’ business dealings, to find out how many people the firm managers 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 tightlipped on what he has done with the investors’ 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 with him last year and he began defaulting. “The accused claim that fresh investments took a hit after demonetization in November 2016,” 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.
