Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (MS)
Bengaluru, Jan 15: An illicit relation, out of wedlock, with a woman forced Sandeep Gururaj, who is accused of swindling Rs 62 crores of the prestigious Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG) to route the money to her family by various methods.
Out of the total misappropriated funds of Rs 62 crore, Sandeep, former general manager of finance in MEMG, sent Rs 52 crore to Vishal Somanna, brother of his paramour Amrita Chengappa as per the information given by the police.
Amrita Chengappa, paramour of accused Sandeep used to work as a HR manager with MEMG. Sandeep (38) joined MEMG in 2004 and was elevated to the position of financial in-charge as he was successful in winning the confidence Ranjan Pai, chairman and Shruthi R Pai, director of the group.
(From L to R): Charusmitha, Sandeep Gururaj, Amrita Chengappa and Meera Chengappa
Sandeep created 15 shell companies in order to route the misappropriated funds to his personal account from the account of MEMG as per the information unearthed by the police during the investigation. Out of the 15 fictitious shell companies, 10 were in different locations in overseas countries.
One of the joint shell accounts was opened by Meera Chengappa, mother of Amrita, and Somanna, brother of Amrita in the Koramangala branch of HDFC bank. Gururaj transferred Rs nine crore in three transactions. This was sent back to his personal account in a matter of 24 hours.
The police said that Gururaj along with Somanna, brother of Amrita, whom he met during the interaction with the family on many occasions, invested the siphoned off money in real estate and bought many sites in the city and outside states as well as overseas countries.
The fraudster opened a company by the name Beehive Advisors in which he and his wife were directors. One more company Sanctum Advisor was also formed in the name of his wife P N Charusmitha. In addition, Meera, mother of Amrita also held a company by the Balambal.
Gururaj used the method of RTGS to transfer an amount of Rs 7.65 crore to the account of his Beehive Advisors Company. The accounts of both the companies held by Gururaj and his wife in which there was a balance of Rs 1.81 crore are frozen by the banks as per the legal procedure.
It is learnt that the police have contacted various banks and have requested to put a hold on the accounts including the benami accounts of the trickster.
The signature of Gururaj is sent to the forensic science lab to analyze whether he has forged the signature of the chairman of MEMG Ranjan Pai or Somanna, brother of his paramour Amrita. As per the latest information conveyed by the police to the court, the accused are not cooperating with the cops in the investigation.
Amrita Chengappa bought a flat in the Army Housing complex of Whitefield in the city, the worth of which is Rs 14 lac. The amount is said to be borne by Gururaj. Ironically, the apartment is named as 'Sandeep Vihar'.
It was said in the complaint registered with the Cubbon Park police by Vaitheeswaran, group CEO of MEMG International India Pvt Ltd that the accused Sandeep Gururaj is carrying on this dubious trick since 2012. However, during the intense investigation by the cops, it came to light that the fraudster is siphoning off the money of the company since 2009.