Kanva Groups MD held on charges of fraud

Bengaluru: The managing director of a credit cooperative company here was arrested on Friday on charges of duping its investors to the tune of lakhs of rupees, police said.

N Nanjundaiah, who ran the Kanva Souharda Cooperative Credit Limited, was arrested following complaints from investors.

One of the complainants, Gopal claimed he had deposited Rs 16.5 lakh as fixed deposit with the company, which had promised him to give an interest of 12.6 per cent per annum.

Accordingly, the investor was expecting about Rs one lakh from the company per annum but it did not give him any amount, the complaint said.

When Gopal inquired with Nanjundaiah, he expressed his inability to pay him the money, police said.

The company has collected money from a sizeable number of investors.

On Friday, a good number of investors stormed its office demanding their money back. Learning about the incident, police arrived at the spot and arrested Nanjundaiah.

The company’s lawyer, however, rejected the charges saying it has not cheated anyone and the company intends to return the money to the investors.

“We’ve been operating for the past 20 years. We are a group of companies, numbering 11. We are into a different sector. Based on one or two complaints, don’t panic. We have repaid Rs 97. 3 crore to our investors since April this year,” he added.

The lawyer said only three persons have lodged their complaints while rest others got their money back.

“We have not refused to pay their dues,” he claimed.