Couple cheat businessmen of Rs 4 crore

KHAMMAM: An employee of Bharat Dynamics Limited, along with her husband, is alleged to have misappropriated as much as Rs 4 crore from aspiring entrepreneurs.A senior assistant in the administration wing of BDL, K Annapurna, and her husband Suresh, a rice trader, would lure victims on the pretext of massive returns. Over the past eight years, they collected huge sums of money, said police. The couple is absconding.

According to police, the fraud came to light after one of the victims, Srinivas Rao, a businessman, approached police and lodged a complaint on Sunday. Rao had invested Rs 30 lakh with the couple but never got any returns. The offered a Rs 9,000 return on every Rs 1 lakh for a period of 15 days.

They initially paid returns to the first investors, whose word of mouth publicity got them more investments. Gradually, they stopped paying returns to the investors.

Worried about their money, when the investors approached them, the couple said they could not pay them anymore.

Inquiries revealed that Suresh’s business had run into losses and they were making up the losses by diverting the money collected from investors.

A Venkataiah, Inspector Vanasthalipuram said,“We are on the lookout for the couple. We are also probing if there are more victims. The investigation will go ahead based on the evidence.”