N Keshava Reddy, founder and chairman of Keshava Reddy Educational Institutions, who was arrested in September, allegedly collected a whopping Rs. 700 crore as deposits from parents of wards studying in the schools run by him, the CID said on Tuesday.
The CID, which is looking into the case is planning to approach the court soon, seeking orders for attachment and auctioning off, of the properties of the institutions.
According to a report in The Hindu, Director-General of CID Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao said "On obtaining court orders, the identified properties will be attached and auctioned to refund the deposits of parents and other loanees. Other corporate institutions may not venture to take over the educational institutions, as the identified properties could be attached by the CID with court’s permission."
Keshava Reddy, who is currently lodged in the Kurnool sub-jail, was arrested by the central crime station police in Hyderabad on September 9 in what is being dubbed the 'deposit scam'.
Reddy runs a well-known chain of educational institutions spread over many cities in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
He collected amounts above Rs one lakh and upto Rs three lakh from parents, when their children joined the school, and promised that the deposits would be refunded with interest, after the students completed their schooling.
He also told some parents that their children can study in any of his schools in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana without paying any fee until they passed 10th standard, signing promissory notes pledging to pay monthly interest, which never happened.
Reddy is said to have amassed Rs 700 crore this way.
Aggrieved parents filed complaints across the state, which resulted in the educationalist's arrest and even came to the notice of Andhra HRD minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, who ordered a probe and transferred the case to the state CID.
Keshava Reddy, however, maintained that he would not default on his commitment, and he had no intention of cheating the depositors.