Margadarsi chit fund scam: Andhra Pradesh CID serves notices to MCFPL chairman Ramoji Rao, daughter-in-law Sailaja

VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID) on Tuesday issued notices on Margadarsi Chit Fund Private Limited (MCFPL) chairman Cherukuri Ramoji Rao and the firm's managing director Ch Sailaja for questioning in the alleged (Margadarsi) chit fund scam.
The CID personnel mentioned that Ramoji Rao and his daughter-in-law — who were served notices under Section 160 of the CrPC — were asked to be available for examination at their residence or office on March 29 or March 31 or on April 3 or 6 and cooperate with the investigation.
The CID also mentioned that the duo is hereby requested to inform any of the convenient date and place well in advance.
It may be recalled that the state CID had registered an FIR against the chairman of MCFPL Ch Ramoji Rao, his daughter-in-law and managing director of MCFPL Ch Sailaja and the managers of various branches of the chit fund company for alleged cheating, diversion of deposits into mutual funds, which are contingent on capital markets’ risks, and violation of Chit Fund Act and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines.
The CID registered cases against them under sections 120 (B), 409, 420, 477 (A) r/w34 of the IPC, Section 5 of the AP Protection of Depositors in Financial Establishments Act, 1999, sections 76 and 79 of the Chit Funds Act, 1982, in which Ramoji Rao has been named as accused number one, while Sailaja is the second accused, followed by heads of concerned branches.
The CID had registered the case following multiple complaints from assistant registrars of various districts in connection with the stamp and registration department raids on the offices of Margadarsi Chit Fund Pvt Ltd during October and November months last year.
A few weeks ago, multiple teams of the CID raided the premises of the MCFPL at Vizag, Rajahmundry, Eluru, Vijayawada, Guntur, Narasaraopeta and Anantapur branches.
The CID officials reportedly detained some office managers and accountants and verified the documents.
They questioned the chit fund company staff on the alleged diversion of funds to other companies.