Rahul Dravid duped by Bengaluru-based firm of crores, files police complaint

BENGALURU: Former Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid has filed a complaint against a Bengaluru-based wealth management firm Vikram Investments for duping him to the tune of Rs 6 crore. Dravid claimed in his complaint to the Sadashiva Nagar police that he invested Rs 20 crore in the company on the assurance of higher returns, but did not even get back the principal amount that he had invested. 

Dravid said that of the Rs 20 crore money he invested, he received Rs 16 crore back while the company has not returned the remaining Rs 4 crore. 

The company has been accused of defrauding over 800 investors to the tune of over Rs 300 crore. The multi-crore fraud came to light on March 3 when an investor PR Balaji filed a complaint against the company for cheating him of Rs 11.74 crore. Five people, including Vikram Investments managing director Raghavendra Srinath, have been arrested in connection with the alleged fraud case.

After the arrests, several people have come out to lodge their complaints. Police said that they have nearly 100 complaints against Vikram Investments. Seeking the custody of those arrested, the police told the court that the accused had diverted funds to foreign countries and they needed to interrogate them to trace the money trail and recover it.

As per the complainants, the firm lured investors with offers like 40 to 50 per cent annual returns on their principal amounts.

Not just Rahul Dravid, there are reports that several bigwigs like Batminton player Saina Nehwal and Prakash Padukone also invested their money in the firm but were duped. However, Dravid is the first to have come on record to file the complaint. 

One of the managers, Sutram Suresh, who is judicial custody, was a former sports journalist. It is being said that the sportspersons invested their money in the company through Suresh.