2 cheat donors with fake trust in Bengaluru, held

BENGALURU: Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths arrested two men on charges of cheating people in the name of a fake charitable trust working towards the betterment of underprivileged children.
Ajay NV and Venkatachalapati, who were illegally running 'Child Life Foundation' in the city and 'Care and Love', 'Asha Kuteer Foundation', and 'WE4' in Hyderabad, had collected money from individuals and private companies.
Police said they registered a case based on a complaint from Shruti U Bai, officer from the district child protection unit, south division, Bengaluru. According to the complaint, the accused were running the illegal charitable trust for the past five years and had established a call centre at Bommanahalli, from where tele-callers called donors. On average, such callers contacted 200 individual donors each day, they added.
"They have used many photographs of children on their websites and issued fake receipts for the money they received. Trusting them, donors have transferred money online and through bank accounts. It has come to light that the accused never used the donated money towards children or for any other social cause. The said trusts have not been registered with the government, but accused forged letters to show registration," the complaint with police stated. The case was transferred to CCB.
Joint commissioner of police (crime) SD Sharanappa said they are yet to investigate the volume of money involved in the scam. "Based on the complaint, we raided the office - Acumentrix - in Bommanahalli and seized various documents, 13 mobile phones, one laptop and other materials. We've taken the accused into police custody for questioning," he said.