In a meticulously planned and precisely executed operation, Nazarbad Police on Friday arrested Ravindranath, Managing Director of Green Buds Agro Farms Ltd. who had cheated over 500 people of more than Rs.300 crore in the guise of doubling their investments in a short period from his hide-out in Mangalore.
It may be recalled that former City Police Commissioner K.L.Sudheer had formed a special team headed by Nazarbad Inspector Jayakumar to track Ravindranath based on the complaints from residents of Mysore, Hassan, Chamarajanagar, Kodagu and other districts that Ravindranath had opened his offices, appointed agents to collect crores of rupees from gullible investors in the guise of doubling their investments before absconding.
He was produced before a Magistrate and has been remanded to judicial custody.
Green Buds which was founded in Mysore in 1999 had opened 33 branches across the State and had collected more than Rs. 500 crore from investors in the form of pigmy and other deposits. Ravindranath had claimed that the money had been invested in buying assets in the name of the company.
After luring investors with attractive returns in the beginning, the company reportedly resorted to cheating henceforth.
Documents seized from Ravindranath show that he has purchased 400 acres of land in different parts of Mysore and Chamarajanagar districts, a single 100 acre plot in Vijayapura near Talkad in Mysore district and a 100 acre plot at Dasanur in Chamarajanagar district.
He is also said to have bought four acres of land in Siddaramanahundi, 25 acres in another location besides owning 16 to 20 residential sites near his house at Sardar Vallabhai Patel Nagar on Mysore-T.N. Pura road, some of them registered in his name while others registered in the name of his wife and relatives.
Ravindranath is also said to have bought a building adjacent to his office on Theobald road and made a decent profit after selling it besides turning two vacant sites owned by him near his house into day and night parking lots for his own vehicles which included a fleet of cars like Skoda Octavia, Toyota Fortuner, Innova and others.
Shocking the investors, the accounts of the company was found unaudited since its inception in 1999 and the Board of Management has eight directors, most of whom are namesake. A supervisor of a sugar factory who had been appointed as director, later resigned.
A government employee who had invested Rs. 1 lakh in FD and succeeded in getting double the amount after five years, invested again only to be deceived when it came to his retirement benefits of Rs. 15 lakh.
The co-accused in the case and General Manager of the company Gayathri had also bought around 65 acres of land while Ravindranath’s brother in-law Madhu had opened Green Buds Agro Foods Ltd., a shop selling rice at APMC yard in Bandipalya.
It is also learnt that Ravindranath owes Rs. 45 lakh to Cholamandel Finance Ltd. which he had obtained as loan for building his house.
Courtesy : Star Of Mysore
