Hyderabad firm pulls a Rs 10 crore fraud

Hyderabad: In yet another case of a financial institutions cheating clients, a city-based financial services company shut shop duping thousands of customers to the tune of over Rs 10 crore. About 500 depositors of the company, on Tuesday, lodged a complaint with the city police demanding action against the owner of the company. According to the victims, V Sai Ramesh, who started the City Financial Management Services, Musheerabad, in November 2011, announced new money deposit schemes. Under the schemes, depositors have to invest amounts ranging from Rs 3,000 to Rs 12,000 and they will get lucrative sums for the next 10 months.

“If a depositor invests Rs 3,000, he or she will get back Rs 1,500 each month for the next 10 months. Similarly, a person who has invested Rs 6,000 will get Rs 3,000 every month and those investing Rs 9,000 or Rs 12,000 will get Rs 4,500 or Rs 6,000 respectively,’’ one of the victims said. Initially, Ramesh paid the promised amounts promptly and the number of investors crossed 1,000 within no time. “Some people even invested over Rs 10 lakh,’’ an official of the Central Crime Station (CCS), which is probing the case, said.

The customers who deposited between Rs 25,000 and Rs 4 lakh gathered at the CCS and gave complaints against the company to the police commissioner. N Haritha (27), a resident of Kukatpally paid Rs 4 lakh to City Facility Management Services for an online job and money circulation, for a promised return of more than what she had paid. She was told she would get her money back in a couple of months with 30 to 40 percent added to the amount. “But, I am cheated by the company. What to do?,” she said. “I sold some of my jewellery to pay here, but everything was gone,” she added.

A city-based financial services company shut shop duping thousands of customers to the tune of over Rs 10 crore.

Another victim, D Murali Karthik, a B. Tech third year student from Ibrahimpatnam, deposited Rs 3.5 lakh last month. “I thought I would get 30 to 40 percent extra in a couple of months. So, I paid them with the money which my parents gave me for college fee. Now, we are all cheated. I cannot tell all this to my parents,” he said.

Police said Ramesh stopped going to his office suddenly. Some customers who did not get their returns visited the office located in the fifth floor of Surabhi Sapphire apartments near RTC Crossroads and only to find it locked. Ramesh also did not respond to the calls to his mobile phones. On Monday, a group of customers went to Chikkadpally police to lodge a complaint, but they were directed to the CCS.

Based on the complaints lodged by Venkata Ramana, Mallesh, Bhaskar and other victims, the CCS registered a case under Sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) of IPC and Sections 3, 4 of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Act 1978 against Ramesh and launched a hunt to nab him.

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