Rs 62 crore fraud at Manipal Group: Court denies bail to 3 women

Team Udayavani, Jan 12, 2019, 10:51 AM IST

Bengaluru: The 8th additional chief metropolitan magistrate (ACMM) rejected the bail petition of three women arrested along with the deputy general manager (finance) of the Manipal Education and Medical Group for defrauding the company of Rs 62 crore. 

P N Charusmita, 30, wife of the prime accused, Sandeep Gururaj, 38, and Amrita Chengappa, 34, had moved the court seeking bail on the grounds that they have a child at home while Amrita’s mother, Meera Chengappa, 59, sought bail on health grounds. 

Public prosecutor G N Arun pointed out that the suspects if released on bail can tamper with the evidence or influence witnesses in the case at a time when the investigations are ongoing. 

Acting on a complaint filed by Ranjan Pai, the chairman of Manipal Group, and his wife Shruti Pai, the Cubbon Park police had on January 7 arrested Gururaj, the DGM (Finance), on charges of siphoning Rs 62 crore belonging to Manipal Group to his personal account and then to the accounts of his wife Charusmita, Meera and Amrita. Gururaj is also accused of transferring the money to benami companies in the past three years.