Manipal group fraud case: Court rejects bail plea of main accused

Bengaluru: The IVth Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court rejected the bail plea of Sandeep Gururaj, the prime accused in the Rs 70 crore fund misappropriation from the company accounts of Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG).

The accused, Gururaj who was employed as the deputy general manager of finance at the group was arrested in December last year after the fraud came to light and has been remanded in judicial custody since then.

Police investigating the case found that Gururaj had created 15 shell companies, including 10 locations abroad. He used these shell companies to route money from the company account to his personal accounts.

Gururaj had approached the court seeking bail after police filed a 3,000-page charge-sheet in the case.

Arguing that Gururaj was the masteming behind this fraud, Public prosecutor Shailaja K Nayak said that the accused might flee the country if granted bail.

Hearing the observations, the court rejected his bail application.

Meanwhile, the high court had granted bail to three other accused in the case last month — Gururaj’s wife P N Charusmita, his ex-colleague, Amrita Chengappa and Amrita’s mother Meera Chengappa.

Vishal Somanna, another prime accused and Dubai-based Qatar Airways pilot, is still at large. Gururaj had transferred nearly Rs 58 crore to Somanna’s accounts.