Two, including CEO, of coop society held for Rs 70 cr fraud

BENGALURU: The CEO and another key accused have been arrested by the Cubbon Park police in connection with a Rs 70 crore fraud case at the EPFO staff credit cooperative society.

The CEO, Gopinath, and staff member Lakshmi Jagadish have been arrested. The society has been functioning for 61 years and was established to help EPFO staff members.

The society had received deposits from current and retired EPFO members, promising them monthly interest. However, when investors did not receive their interest for three months, they investigated and found that the fixed deposit money was missing.

It is alleged that only Rs 3 crore was given as loans, and the remaining Rs 70 crore was misused. Over 300 depositors are said to have been affected by the scam.

The police have intensified the investigation and obtained a search warrant from the court. In addition, the houses of Gopinath, Jagadish, Lakshmi, Lingegowda and Ramanuja in RR Nagar, JP Nagar, Anjanapura, the society office near the PF office, and the office near Richmond Circle were raided simultaneously, and some documents were seized.

The money has been deposited in the bank, but there it is not sure that the depositors will get their money back. The police are trying to recover the money from those who have misused it and return it to the account holders.