Chit fund fraud: investigation on to nail defaulters

Vijaya Rani, the tv artiste arrested for the chit fund fraud, says she fled as she was unable to run her business after some investors defaulted on their monthly payments.

The probe into chit fund fraud by Vijaya Rani, the television artiste who allegedly duped her colleagues of Rs 5 crore, is going on in full swing. Vijaya Rani, 46, was arrested in Bengaluru last Wednesday along with 10 of her accomplices.

Giving details of the investigation, Vijay Kumar, ACP, CCS, said, “She paid a high rate of interest ranging from three per cent to 35 per cent to various investors. Eventually the total amount to be paid exceeded the principal amount that she borrowed from them. Due to fear of being attacked, she fled with Rs 5 crore in cash.”

Vijaya Rani, during the interrogations, defended that she had run away as many investors were not paying the monthly installments. So she could not regulate her chit fund business.

The CCS team is questioning all the TV artistes who invested in Vijaya Rani’s chit fund company. The investors want the police to forcibly take possession of her immovable properties. A face-to-face meeting of Vijaya Rani and the investors would also be arranged to track the flow of money and to identify the defaulters.

G Pala Raju, DCP (CCS), said, “Enquiries are being made with the concerned investors who applied for the chit fund without paying monthly installments. Police are also exploring Vijaya’s intensions of fleeing away for a month as she could have approached the police or the judiciary to solve the issue. The police said that they would file chargesheets against all those responsible for the episode.”

Vijaya Yadav, president, TV Artistes Association, thanked the CCS Police for taking Vijaya Rani into custody and expressed the hope that the police would dig out the truth behind the entire episode.