Did Telangana CID Arrest Mudra Cooperative Society Chairman in Rs 140 Crore Fraud Case?

Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- The chairman of a cooperative society was arrested for a major fraud scheme.
- The fraud involved Rs 140 crore, affecting over 2,000 victims.
- False promises of government jobs and high returns were used to lure investors.
- Investigations are ongoing to uncover the full extent of the fraud.
- Victims have reported various forms of coercion and threats from the accused.
Hyderabad, July 29 (NationPress) The CID of Telangana Police apprehended Thippeneni Ramadasappa Naidu, the Chairman of Mudra Agriculture Skill Development Multi-State Co-operative Society Limited, on charges of a Rs 140 crore fraud.
Naidu, aged 61, was taken into custody from Amaravati, a city in the neighboring state of Andhra Pradesh.
He is alleged to have defrauded over 2,000 farmers and unemployed individuals, claiming to operate under a government-associated program.
Alongside Naidu, his son Thippeneni Sai Kiran and another accomplice were also arrested in Hyderabad.
The CID stated that the case involves criminal breach of trust, cheating, and unlawful collection of deposits from farmers and the unemployed.
Naidu, along with his associates, allegedly established the Mudra Agriculture Skill Development Multi-State Co-operative Society Limited, mimicking the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, a Central government initiative, and misrepresented it as an official government project. They lured farmers and job seekers by promising lucrative jobs and high returns on their investments. Naidu falsely asserted that the society would transition into a full-fledged bank within two years, assuring members of permanent government employment, as stated by the CID.
“Relying on these fraudulent assurances, the accused managed to collect deposits from daily wage workers, farmers, and shopkeepers totaling around Rs 140 crore, which they misappropriated for personal use,” the CID reported.
Victims' complaints led to the registration of 10 cases against the accused at various police stations in Telangana from 2020 to 2022, all of which are currently under CID investigation.
According to Charu Sinha, Additional Director General of Police for CID, the investigation uncovered that Naidu had advertised 2,000 government marketing supervisor positions in Telugu newspapers. Many applicants from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh believed these claims to be genuine. The accused retained original educational certificates and solicited funds purportedly for share capital and investment bonds instead of fixed deposits. Employees were tasked with deposit collection from farmers, and failures resulted in salary deductions.
Numerous employees who resigned were denied the return of their certificates and investments. Those who protested faced threats of negative press in the 'Margadarshi' newspaper, falsely linking them to anti-social elements. The primary accused also coerced individuals into signing blank documents and withheld salaries.
With 330 branches and approximately 1,600 employees, the society invested a substantial amount of the collected funds in APIIC Limited for industrial plots in Andhra Pradesh.
Ongoing investigations aim to trace the flow of funds and identify additional perpetrators, as noted by the Additional DGP.