BENGALURU: Former Indian cricket team captain Rahul Dravid has lodged a police complaint against a Bengaluru-based firm for allegedly cheating him of Rs 40 million.
“Dravid had lodged a complaint with us two days back against Vikram Investment Company for cheating him of Rs 4 crore (Rs 40 million),” Sadashivanagar police inspector Naveen told PTI here.
Though there were reports of many sportspersons and other celebrities being duped by the company, Dravid has been the first to lodge a complaint.
Among the sportspersons reportedly cheated are former and current badminton stars Prakash Padukone and Saina Nehwal but neither has lodged any complaint, an officer told The Telegraph.
Meanwhile, police sources told The Telegraph that the authorities were investigating leads that suggested that some 800 big and small investors within and outside the state had collectively lost Rs 5 billion they had invested with the company.
A couple of weeks ago, the police had arrested five persons, including a former sports journalist, for allegedly duping several people of millions of rupees through Vikram Investment Company.
The company’s owner Raghavendra Sreenath and agents Sutram Suresh (a former journalist), Narasimhamurthy, K C Nagaraj and Prahlad were arrested, Naveen told the newswire.
Dravid, in his complaint, alleged that he had invested Rs 200 million in the company in 2014 on assurance of getting higher returns, but was yet to get back Rs 40 million to match his principal investment.
“Dravid has got Rs 16 crore (Rs160 million), but he is yet to receive the remaining Rs 4 crore (Rs 40 million). The cricketer has submitted relevant documents in this regard,” Naveen told PTI.
A case was registered against the company and the five persons on the basis of a complaint lodged by one of the investors PR Balaji, who owns an incense sticks company.
The complainant alleged that the agents assured him guaranteed profits in commodity trading, but did not honour it.
Sreenath had set up the company and appointed a few men including Suresh as agents promising them enhanced returns on investments, police said.
