Two held for Rs 229 crore financial 'fraud': Hyderabad Police

Hyderabad, Oct 10 (PTI) A managing director and a director of a city-based company were arrested here on Thursday for allegedly cheating as many as 17,500 people to the tune of Rs 229 crore on the pretext of offering high returns on their deposits, police said.

After one of the depositors, a doctor, lodged a complaint on September 4 stating that he invested Rs 2.74 crore with the firm, but the company wound up its business, a case under relevant IPC sections was registered by the Central Crime Station (CCS)--a wing of Hyderabad Police.

The complainant stated he was impressed by the speeches of influencers about the company through a streaming platform and he visited its office at Madhapur here, a release from Hyderabad Police said.

He met with the company's managing director and managers, who presented him with promotional materials offering deposit opportunities with interest rates ranging from 8 per cent to 12 per cent.

The company officials claimed that they were engaged in B2B and B2C businesses and that they had stores in different parts of the city. They further claimed partnerships with an e-commerce giant for delivering 4,000 orders per day and with another firm specialising in headphones and neckbands, police said.

Believing it, the victim deposited Rs 2.74 crore in the company in August, but it shut its business and stopped paying amount to him, after which he approached the police.

During the investigation, police conducted searches at the company's office and a farm house here and seized 564 original Guarantee Agreement bonds executed by the accused, different bank cheque books, 13 laptops and other materials.

As per the company's records, it was found that 17,500 people deposited money (in cash and online) to the tune of Rs 229 crore, it said.

A special team arrested the company's managing director and his wife, who is director of the firm, on Thursday, police said.

"Detailed examination of accounts and bank statements is still going on and the total amount of fraud is yet to be ascertained. Special team will continue to make efforts to arrest other accused," police said, adding an investigation on agents and influencers is continuing.

Police said social media advertisements are luring the public to invest in fraudulent schemes which people should be highly cautious of and not to fall into them. PTI VVK VVK KH