Bengaluru, May 31: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) sleuths have arrested three brothers, the prime suspects in a Rs 400-crore scam involving Harsha Entertainment Pvt Ltd (HEPL) based in Kalghatgi in Dharwad district.
Harsha Khasnis alias Satyabodha, Sanjeev Khasnis and Shrikant Khasnis were picked up from a hotel in Mathura in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday and were subsequently arrested. They were brought to Karnataka and produced before a court in Dharwad on Tuesday. The court remanded them in police custody for eight days for further interrogation. Brothers, who floated the HEPL, were on the run since April 11, 2017.
The Khasnis brothers were small-time moneylenders when they started the business in 2005. The business grew rapidly and they started taking deposits from the public. They collected more than Rs 400 crore from the public?by promising monthly returns of 7%. They said the money would be invested in the stock market and film production. Agents were hired to collect deposits from the public and were given a commission. A large number of people, including government employees, from Dharwad, Belagavi, Uttara Kannada, Gadag, Haveri, Vijayapura and Davangere districts had invested in the firm. Some of the depositors had even taken loans for investing in HEPL.
The brothers invested in 10 films. Their plans went well till the demonetisation in November 2016. Post-demonetisation, they found it difficult to manage their business. So, they called a meeting of investors and sought time for making the payments.
The trio wound up the company on April 11 and vanished with investors' money and documents. The victims filed complaints with the Kalghatgi police who registered cases under IPC sections 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 406 and 408 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and Section 9 of the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments Act, 2004 (Fraudulent Default by Financial Establishment).
The police arrested four employees of HEPL, Ramachandra, Vadiraja, Mahesh and Shambulingha, after a case was registered.
Considering large sums of money involved in the scam, the government handed over the case to CID to ensure justice to victims. The police conducted searches in parts of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi to nab the trio.
Now, the CID sleuths have requested victims cheated by the trio to contact the CID (9480800184/ 94808-00103/[email protected]) and share the details.
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