Hyderabad: What began as a seemingly lucrative investment opportunity during a routine visit home has left a city-based NRI techie poorer by over 10 crore, exposing an orchestrated fraud involving a fictitious casino business. A 57-year-old software engineer, who has been working in the United States since the late 1990s, was allegedly duped of 10.3 crore by a couple, with the help of two intermediaries. Based on his complaint, the Hyderabad central crime station (CCS) police have registered a cheating case against the accused. The victim, K Karunakar Reddy from Vijaynagar Colony, told police that he has been working in the US since 1997 and visits Hyderabad every year to spend time with family. During one such visit in 2021, two acquaintances, M Venkateshwarlu Nayak and P Srisailam, introduced him to Mani Nagamani and Mani Vara Prasad. “After gaining my trust through the introduction, the couple hatched a plan to cheat me. They repeatedly approached me asking to invest money in their casino commercial business. They assured high profits and guaranteed returns,” the complainant alleged. Trusting their assurances, Karunakar agreed to invest in the proposed venture. Between Dec 2021 and Nov 2022, he transferred over 10.3 crore. “To gain my trust, they executed a casino commercial business agreement in my wife, Pallavi’s, name on Feb 2, 2022,” the complainant said. However, after receiving the funds, the couple allegedly began evading him. Whenever he sought details about the business, profit statements or repayment, they either avoided responding or offered misleading explanations. With the accused refusing to return the money, Karunakar approached the police, seeking legal action. Based on his complaint, a case was registered on March 18 against the couple and the two intermediaries under sections 318 (4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) read with 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the BNS. “We are collecting details about the monetary transactions between the complainant and the accused. Based on the preliminary probe, appropriate legal action will be initiated,” said a CCS official.
