More than two dozen depositors of a cooperative bank in Bengaluru— Sri Vasista Credit Souharda Sahakari Limited (SVCSSL)— approached the police with complaints of cheating, forgery, misappropriation and criminal breach of trust against the bank directors and other administrative board members on Wednesday, June 30. The Hanumanthnagar Police had received the first complaint regarding the bank on June 25 by Arun BN, a resident of Bengaluru’s Bannerghatta, who said that he had made a fixed deposit of Rs 99 lakh on behalf of his 78-year-old father, Nagaraj BT. "The bank was giving interest till November 2020 but it stopped abruptly. Subsequently, it also stopped withdrawal of deposits," Arun alleged in his complaint. This is the second such cooperative bank fraud in south Bengaluru, with customers of the Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank facing a similar situation since January 2020.
After Arun’s complaint, several other depositors came forward with similar grievances. On Wednesday, at least 23 other depositors lodged similar complaints against the SVCSSL’s Chairperson, Venkata Narayana KN, and his son Krishna Prasad, who is also the bank’s Director. Narayana had earned goodwill among his depositors through his philanthropic work as the Akhila Karnataka Brahmana Mahasabha (AKBMS) President. Arun BN explained his ordeal to various local news channels, and claimed that the bank dodged his repeated attempts to contact them, citing the pandemic as the reason.
"When I failed to receive an appropriate response from bankers, I decided to approach the police. On learning about Arun's complaint, several other investors, too, have approached the jurisdictional police alleging that the interest on their money is being stopped and they are not being allowed to withdraw the deposits," the complainants alleged.
A senior police official told IANS on condition of anonymity that they have sought complete details of the investments. The quantum of misappropriation is yet to be estimated as many depositors have not yet come forward. The police have registered a case and an investigation is underway.
