Bengaluru police have arrested the Deputy General Manager (Finance) of Manipal Education and Medical Group for diverting over Rs 62 crore from the company with the help of his wife and a former colleague. The arrest comes after a complaint was filed by Ranjan Pai, chairman of the Manipal Group, at Cubbon Park Police Station in Bengaluru on December 26, 2018.
The police have arrested Sandeep Gururaj, 38, his wife Charusmita, 30, Amrita Chengappa, 34, who resides in Andheri in Mumbai and her mother Meera Chengappa, 59, who resides in Koramangala.
Police are on the lookout for Amrita's brother Vishal Somanna who works as a pilot with Qatar Airways in Dubai. "He will be arrested soon. We have issued a notice for the pilot. In all, four persons have been arrested so far," confirmed a police official at Cubbon Park Police Station.
Ranjan Pai knew something was amiss after he spotted a transaction of Rs. 3.5 crore to a Dubai-based company without the voice-confirmation required for it. "This raised suspicions and it was found that there were multiple cases of misappropriations by Sandeep," confirmed the police officer.
As per a note released by the police, Sandeep had transferred funds from the group for the last three years by floating a fake company called Sanctum in his name.
A report by The Hindu further added that another fake company called Beehives was started in his wife Charusmita’s name to which funds were diverted. A third company – Vedanta General Trading – was floated in the name of Vishal Somanna, the pilot, who had transferred Rs 8 crore to his mother Meera Chengappa's bank account.
Investigators also found Rs 18.87 crore was diverted from Manipal International Institutions to Vedanta General Trading. "The accused set up accounts in different countries. We have frozen Rs 1.81 crore found in Sandeep's account,” confirmed the police official at Cubbon Park Police Station.