6 arrested in ₹100 crore cooperative society scam
The society’s directors and staff have been arrested and remanded to 14 days’ custody.
Visakhapatnam: Visakhapatnam police have arrested six individuals in connection with a massive fraud involving a cooperative society that swindled approximately ₹100 crore from depositors. The key accused, retired IRS officer Siva Bhagya Rao, remains absconding.
The accused had formed a cooperative society named “Sneha Max Society” and collected deposits from nearly 2,500 individuals, mainly targeting employees from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and minority communities, by offering them high interest rates of up to 12 per cent.
The society’s directors and staff have been arrested and remanded to 14 days’ custody. A search operation is currently underway to apprehend Siva Bhagya Rao, identified as the mastermind behind the scam.
Commissioner of police Sankhabrata Bagchi stated that many of the victims were pensioners who had deposited their life savings in the society. “Our top priority is to recover the funds and return them to the victims,” he said.
A case has been registered at Dwarka police station. Police have seized and frozen the assets of the society. Extensive searches are being carried out to trace the main accused, who is still on the run.
The commissioner assured that all those involved will be brought to justice, even though the society has sought anticipatory bail and filed quash petitions. He added that further inquiries will be carried out after the arrest of the main suspect to determine the full extent of the scam and the number of people involved.
