Andhra CID begins questioning Ramoji Rao in Margadarsi case

Hyderabad, April 3: Officials of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Andhra Pradesh on Monday started questioning media baron and Margadarsi Chit Funds Private Limited (MCFPL) chairman Cherukuri Ramoji Rao in the Margadarsi Chit Fund case.

A team of officials reached Ramoji Rao's house in Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad and began the questioning.

The CID had issued notices to them last week under section 160 Criminal Procedure Code to examine them at their residence/office and had suggested four different dates.

The CID has asked them to be present at home or appear before it either on March 29 or March 31 or April 3 or April 6.

The notices were served for alleged cheating, diversion of deposits into mutual funds, which are contingent on capital markets' risks, and violation of the Chit Fund Business Act and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines.

Acting on complaints by the Assistant Registrars of Chits, CID recently registered multiple FIRs across Andhra Pradesh into alleged chit fund fraud.

The complaints came after the Stamp and Registration department raids on the offices of Margadarsi at several places in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana during October and November last year.

It was allegedly found during rains that the chit fund collections from the branches were being transferred to the corporate office and huge amounts were being invested in mutual funds.

A case was registered against Margadarsi under Sections 120(B), 409, 420, 477(A) read with 34 of IPC, section 5 of Andhra Pradesh Protection of Depositors and section 76, 79 of Chit Funds Act 1982.

Multiple CID teams had conducted searches on the Margadarsi branches in Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, Eluru, Vijayawada, Guntur, Narasaraopeta, and Anantapur.

Non-payment of monthly subscriptions, illegal diversion of funds to the corporate office, non-disclosure of revenue and expenditure accounts, and other irregularities were named by the CID.

On March 31, CIS arrested a chartered accountant K. Shravan for abandoning due diligence and due process in certifying the annual financial statements of MCFPL. CID said Shravan admitted that he had not done due diligence and without following due process for verification of the branch-level financial statements or bank statements, he had certified the annual financial statements of MCFPL.