Manipal fraud case: Court rejects bail for accused

The IVth Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court rejected the bail application of Sandeep Gururaj, the prime accused who siphoned off Rs 70 crore from the company accounts of Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG).

Gururaj was the former deputy general manager of finance at the group.

Gururaj had filed a bail application after Cubbon Park police filed a 3,000-page charge-sheet in the case. It’s been nearly five months since Gururaj has been in judicial custody after his arrest on December 27, 2018.

As the charge-sheet was filed, there were no chances of influencing witnesses or destroying evidence. Gururaj had to abide by the bail conditions of the court.

Public prosecutor Shailaja K Nayak submitted that Gururaj was the mastermind behind the fraud adding that it is a heinous crime as he broke the trust of MEMG chairman Ranjan Pai and director Shruthi R Pai.

Investigations found that Gururaj formed about 15 shell companies including 10 in various locations abroad, which were used to route money from the company account to his personal accounts.

There are high chances of him not appearing for the investigation and he could flee to another country as he had transferred crores of rupees to companies abroad, the prosecutor added, requesting not to grant him bail.

Hearing the observations, the court rejected the bail application.

Meanwhile, the high court had granted bail to three other accused in the case last month -- Gururaj’s wife P N Charusmita, his ex-colleague, Amrita Chengappa and Amrita's mother Meera Chengappa.

Vishal Somanna, another prime accused and Dubai-based Qatar Airways pilot, is still at large. Gururaj had transferred nearly Rs 58 crore to Somanna's accounts.