MBA graduate from Telangana arrested in ₹2.45 crore loan fraud

A 30-year-old man was arrested in Telangana for scamming a Gurugram businessman of ₹2.45 crore by posing as a financier. Investigations continue.

A 30-year-old man was arrested from Telangana’s Kompally for duping a Gurugram based businessman of ₹2.45 crore in June 2023, police said on Friday.

MBA graduate from Telangana arrested in ₹2.45 crore loan fraud

The accused, identified as Venam Raju, an MBA graduate and resident of Malkangiri in Telangana, posed as a financier and lured the victim by claiming to lend money at cheaper interest rates, according to officials privy to matter.

Investigators at Gururgram police’s economic offences wing (EOW)-I said, in September 2023, the complainant in the case and former owner of Orient Craft Sweaters Limited, approached the Sadar police station claiming that he was trapped by an organised syndicate while seeking a loan at cheaper rates.

“The victim was first contacted on May 25, 2023, by a man named Tarun Manchanda, claiming to be connected to Vikram, a Haryana-based financier and Nitin Garg, a Hyderabad-based financier. Subsequently, the suspects, including Garg, Vikram, Manchanda and Raju later visited his office, promising him a loan of up to ₹100 crore at a 6% interest rate and requesting documents such as his bank statements and buyer projections,” said Sandeep Turan, public relations officer of Gurugram police.

Turan said, the victim submitted his documents to Garg on May 28, 2023. The suspects later felicitated his meeting with another man named Srinivas Kandola, who gained his trust by showing him loan agreements worth up to ₹1,000 crore and offered him similar schemes.

Investigators said that one short-term loan of ₹2.5 crore and a long-term loan of ₹40 crores to be repaid in 5–7 years, at a 6% interest rate were offered to him. The accused demanded ₹2.5 crore to be deposited as interest for the ₹40 crore loan.

In June 2023, the victim received ₹2.25 crore to his bank account. “Within two weeks, during a meeting in Hyderabad, the victim transferred ₹4.7 crore via RTGS to the bank accounts belonging to the suspects. As per their agreement, the victim believed that another ₹40 crore would be added to his bank account within 15 minutes. However, the suspects absconded, defrauding him of ₹2.45 crore,” Turan added.

When placed under interrogation, Raju revealed that he works with Srinivas. “He, along with Srinivas and other associates, defrauded him. Of the defrauded amount, ₹50 lakh was transferred to Raju’s bank account,” Turan said, adding that the case was already registered at Sadar police station in 2023 the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and that further investigations are going on.

“The identification of his associates and recovery of the defrauded amount, will be carried out,” he said, adding that the accused was produced before a local court in Malkangiri and taken on a four-day transit remand on Wednesday.