The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID) personnel who were probing the alleged irregularities in the Margadarsi Chit Fund Private Limited arrested four employees on Sunday.
The CID teams had conducted raids simultaneously on the offices of the Margadarsi Chit Fund Private Limited in Guntur, Visakhapatnam, Rajamahendravaram and other places in the State on Saturday, and during the searches, they were said to have grilled the office managers, accountants and other staff on the alleged diversion of funds, poor maintenance of accounts and other irregularities.
The arrested employees included Kamineni Ramakrishna, head of the Seetammadhara branch in Visakhapatnam, Satti Ravishankar of Rajamahendravaram branch, Gunjavolu Siva Ramakrishna of the Guntur branch, and B. Srinivas Rao of the Labbipet branch in Vijayawada.
The chit fund organisers are facing allegations of violation of the Chit Funds Act. They are said to have diverted funds worth some crores of rupees to other companies and misused the subscribers’ money.
During the raids, it was reportedly observed that the chit fund management had “not deposited the subscription amount into the chit accounts and manipulated the bank accounts to cover its fraudulent activities.” It also allegedly maintained deposit schemes illegally and resorted to other irregularities.
Officials of the Registration and Stamps Department, the regulatory authority of chit fund businesses, during its raids, had found many irregularities and lodged a complaint with the CID.
The CID sleuths said the employees failed to produce the balance sheets and necessary documents during search operations. The arrested persons would be produced in court for necessary action, and further investigation was on, the CID officials said.
