B'luru: Investors duped of Rs 3cr in co-operative society fraud, woman held

Police have arrested a 45-year-old woman on charges of duping several people to the tune of Rs 3 crore by promising a high rate of interest on their deposits in her cooperative society.

The woman identified as Vani, a resident of Kengeri had opened the Sri Varidhi Sowhardha Credit Co-operative Pvt Ltd. along with her now estranged husband Sudheendra. The co-operative society had two branches i.e in Rajajinagar and Laggere. The couple would pose as directors of the society and convince investors to deposit their money with them.

A complaint was filed against them by Shivalingaiah L, 63, a resident of Basaveshwaranagar on August 6, 2021. In his complaint, Shivalingaiah who is a retired government employee stated that he saw the Varidhi cooperative society while visiting his bank branch in Rajajinagar 3rd Block. He met the couple at the office and they lured him with the promise of a higher return on his deposit.

An unsuspecting Shivalingaiah deposited Rs 10.2 lakh on November 7, 2019. However he did not get the promised returns, and later he came to know that the society office was closed in 2021. He then filed a police complaint.

After nearly 10 months the police managed to trace Vani to Kengeri. She told the police that they had lost all her money in the chit fund business and after separation from her husband in 2021 she took up the job of a cook at kalyana mantap for a livelihood.

Police produced her before a court, which remanded her in judicial custody. Sudheendra meanwhile continues to be at large.