Dravid, Prakash Padukone, Saina among 800 people duped in Bengaluru Ponzi scheme

Mumbai: Former Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid, current badminton star Saina Nehwal and former All-England champion Prakash Padukone have been named among the 800 people duped by a Bengaluru-based Ponzi scheme, according to a report in News18.

The Bengaluru City Police on Monday confirmed that Vikram Investment Company had cheated over 800 people, including the above mentioned athletes.

The company owner Raghavendra Sreenath, along with agents Sutram Suresh, Narasimhamurthy, KC Nagaraj and Prahalad have all been arrested by the police.

Suresh, a renowned sports journalist based in Bengaluru, has been convincing sports athletes to invest in the ponzi scheme, a police official added.

"They have been sent to police custody for 14 days. The gang has duped the investors of over Rs 300 crores. We are verifying the documents," a Police officer said to News18.

Meanwhile, the above named athletes are yet to respond to the police claims.

Prakash Padukone has refused to comment on this, whereas Rahul Dravid and Saina Nehwal could not be reached.