Cases Booked Against DFI: Property Attached
Police attach properties, court orders auction to repay victims of investment scam
Hyderabad: Central Crime Station (CCS) police on Tuesday registered cases against Dhanwantari Foundation Trust (DFI) director Dr P. Kamalakar Sharma and others for allegedly luring nearly 4,000 senior citizens of a particular caste with promises of high returns on their investments and cheating them of over Rs 516 crore.
Investigating officials identified several properties acquired by DFI and its allied companies in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, including 3,000 square yards of commercial space in the heart of the city and 450 acres of land.
The CCS detective department, DCP, acting as the competent authority under the Depositors Act, sent proposals to the government seeking ad‑interim attachment of these properties and subsequently obtained eight government orders. The competent authority later filed petitions before the Sessions Court and succeeded in getting the ad‑interim attachment orders made “absolute,” city police commissioner V.C. Sajjanar said.
Aggrieved by the decision, the accused filed criminal appeals before the High Court challenging the Sessions Judge’s orders, Sajjanar said. The competent authority filed counters before the High Court, which was convinced by the submissions and passed orders in its favour.
The court appointed a committee chaired by a retired district judge, along with the DCP (competent authority) and a senior chartered accountant, to proceed with the auction of the attached properties and ensure early disbursement of funds to the victims.
The case was initiated on the basis of a complaint filed by Susrala Narsimha Murthy (Crime No. 358/2023), under the IPC and the Telangana Protection of Depositors of Financial Establishments Act, registered on December 23. Investigation is underway, the commissioner added.
