Sending shock waves down the spine of scores of illegally-operating financial and real-estate business establishments across Prakasam district, the Prakasam district police headed by Superintendent of Police Dr Raghuram Reddy on Sunday raided offices of Nakshatra Real Estates and Maitri, a finance company-- owned by two brothers-- for alleged frauds involving several crores of rupees. A case of cheating was registered against the Nakshatra company. However, the police so far has not booked Maitri for any misappropriation of funds.
The police reportedly carried out the raids to prevent the two companies from jeopardizing interests of the investors. A large number of customers who purchased plots and depositors invested in finance schemes are worried over the latest development.
While the raid on Nakshatra firm followed a complaint given by a victim to the One Town Police here, the searches in the money circulation company of Maitri were prompted by suspected siphoning of depositors’ funds.
The police have received complaint that the real-estate company had cheated by assigning plots not owned by the firm. He alleged that some of the plots that formed the venture of the real-estate company were located in assigned land. During the raids, the police reportedly recovered crucial files pertaining to different ventures. Based on the evidence of cheating during the questioning of the company organisers, the police chose to register a case.
Both the police and management of the real-estate firm were reluctant to share information about the raids creating anxiety among the clients who purchased plots and invested their hard earnings in the ventures. The firm reportedly sold hundreds of plots in the name of different ventures. Now, the buyers are puzzled on the number of plots made out of government lands.
On the other hand, depositors of money circulation schemes who pumped in their daily wages with the hope of better future are equally concerned over the fate of their investment.
The police raided main branch of Maitri here and seized several files. The police have crucial information about funds diversion to the Nakshatra company. Incidentally, the two companies belonged to the same family and owned by two brothers.
The private finance firm reportedly collected huge sums of money accounted for several crores of rupees from poor and daily-wage workers in the name of different money-growth schemes.
The company is stated to have slipped into serious financial crisis as the money was diverted to the real-estate firm. The company is reportedly facing difficulty in repayments because of the slump in real-estate for a long period. In this backdrop, the finance firm opted to shut some of its branches in the district much to the nervousness of the depositors. The police anticipated that the company may announce insolvency anytime and took action to avoid financial loss to depositors.