Thrissur: Kerala Police have issued a lookout notice against fraudster Praveen Rana as they suspect he might escape from the country via Nepal.
Rana, who is thought to have defrauded depositors to the tune of Rs 150 crore, was running a chit fund called 'Safe and Strong'.
Police are now questioning Rana's main accomplice M Satish, who was the administration head of the chit company. He was arrested yesterday.
Rana, who gave police the slip when they went to apprehend him from a Kochi flat, also managed to break the police cordon and escape.
Though the police stopped the car that left the flat at Angamaly and checked it, Rana was not in it. The driver said Rana got down at Kaloor.
Police have learned that Rana might have gone to Uttar Pradesh on his way to Nepal. Though they are tracking his mobile, it was switched off. Nor has he contacted any of his friends.
Police have also forwarded Rana's passport number and details to every airport in the country. They are also collecting accurate information about the amount of investments and money spent on business in neighboring states.
Accounts emptied out
Police found out he had withdrawn over Rs 61 crore from his personal and business accounts expecting complaints from investors and intervention of law-enforcing agencies.
Rana has withdrawn Rs 61 crore in three months from his own bank account and the account of Safe and Strong Business Consultants (P) Ltd, police said.
Rana almost emptied the accounts withdrawing sums from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore, anticipating the possibility of police freezing the accounts in the event of investors lodging complaints. Most of these amounts have been transferred to the accounts of his business partners or benami accounts, the police sources added.
How did the business collapse?
The Registrar of Companies had cancelled the licence granted to the Safe and Strong chit fund last year, and the firm was on the verge of collapse after that. Thrissur West Police registered a case after finding that the firm was functioning even after the licence was revoked. Many investors realized that the chit firm was operating without a licence only then. When the number of investors seeking to withdraw money increased, Rana started withdrawing amounts from the personal and business accounts.
How did Rana dupe investors?
Rana made the investors believe he owned the dance bars and other properties in Mumbai, Pune, and Bangalore. In fact, they were either taken on rent or run on partnership. Police have started examining the investments that Rana had made in other states.
Several keeping mum
The exact amount duped by Rana can only be guessed. Many are reluctant to admit losing out money in the investment fraud. So far nearly 250 investors have come out in the open against Rana. The cops found the accused had swindled a whopping Rs 86 crore from those who have approached the police.
The police suspect more people who fell prey to the fraud are keeping silent, fearing humiliation and having lost all hopes of receiving their money back. Their initial assessment is that the accused might have duped investors of nearly Rs 150 crore by offering high-interest rates.
Rana might have received at least Rs 150 crore in investment, as he collected Rs 1lakh to Rs 20 lakh from several individual depositors after promising them up to 48% interest, police say.
A group formed by the investors said nearly 300 victims have admitted to having lost their money. When they protested and created a ruckus demanding their money back, Rana asked them to come to a resort ‘Ranas Villa’ at Kaipilli on December 26, promising to return their investment. However, the next day, the investors came to know Rana quit the post of Managing Director of the chit fund company. And he went underground soon after that.
Patch-up efforts on
Meanwhile, certain middlemen have approached the investors promising to return their money upon them withdrawing the complaints against the accused. However, the investors insisted on getting their money back first.
Praveen Rana (K P Praveen), a native of Veluthur, Arimpur, in Thrissur, was the Chairman and Managing Director of ‘Safe and Strong’ investment firm. Praveen, who has an MBA degree after Engineering, set up the firm seven years ago as a business consultancy and chit-fund company before he started collecting deposits by promising high returns.
