Belagavi, May 16: In connection with the Rs 4500 crore fraud case that shocked the entire state, the police today arrested Shivananda Neelannavar, owner of Shivam Associates, and the property seizure process has begun.
Shivananda Neelannavar, owner of Shivam Associates, has been taken into custody for further investigation, officials said.
Shivananda Neelannavar is accused of collecting thousands of crores of rupees from investors by promising high interest rates without any approvals from RBI or SEBI.
Speaking to reporters today, Belagavi Police Commissioner Borase Bhushan Gulabrao said that an inquiry has been conducted about Shivam Associates.
Based on the inquiry, a complaint was registered at the Malamaruti police station on Friday evening. He said that a case has been registered under the KPID (Karnataka Protection of Depositors in Financial Institutions) Act and the BUDS (Prohibition of Unregulated Deposit Schemes) Act in this regard.
Yesterday, officials raided two places, including the office in Shivabasavanagar, Belgaum, and examined the documents. After examining the financial transaction records, investment details, information on money collected from the public and documents related to various schemes in the offices, the officials registered an IFIR against Shivananda Neelannavar today, and now the Malamaruti police have arrested Shivananda Neelannavar and are questioning him.
“The accused owner has been kept safe and will be produced before the court. The police will seek his custody for further investigation,” said Gulabrao.
Apparently, about 35,000 people are believed to have invested money in the institution, the commissioner said.
The institution is not registered with the RBI or SEBI. At this stage, the exact number of investors and the total amount involved cannot be confirmed. However, it is suspected to be a multi-crore fraud case.
He said that the exact figures can be found only after a detailed audit.
Asset seizure begins
Officials said that they are conducting an operation to seize the assets and documents related to the accused.
On the orders of the District Magistrate, a team of officers, including Deputy Divisional Officer Shravan Nayak, Cooperation Department, and Police Department, has been conducting the operation for the last two days.
During this time, Shivananda Neelannavar has collected about Rs 4,500 crore from 35 thousand people by luring them with an annual interest rate of 36 percent.
It is said that Shivam Associate was registered in 2020 and the money was collected through the Acumen app.