S Madhav (60), a resident of Bharathi Nagar, Bellary and MD, Bellary Steels and Alloys Company is the suspect.

According to the CCB, Madhav and A S Pattabhiaram, former Deputy General Manager of the State Bank of India, allegedly cheated people by luring them to invest in their company named, SN Finance Ltd.

Madhav allegedly roped in Pattabhiraman, who had taken  voluntary retirement from the SBI, and appointed him as Managing Director of the company whereas he remained its Chairman. In 1998, they opened a branch of the company in Dharwad and invited people to invest in their fixed and cumulative deposit schemes. They offered attractive returns ranging from 14 to 20 per cent. Madhav's steel firm also promised to provide surety for their investments, police added.

Between 1998 and 2001, nearly 300 people invested to the tune of Rs two crore in the firm. The duo, however, didn't pay the promised returns and thus cheated the people, police said.

In this regard, P P Bendre, Bhadrappa Hakki, and Muralidharan - lodged complaints against duo with the Indiranagar police under various Sections of the IPC.

Properties seized

After arresting Madhav on September 30, the CCB froze his various immovable properties including three houses in Indiranagar, a house in Bellary, land documents of the steel firm, three cars, three TVs, two refrigerators, and two computers.

While Madhav has been remanded to judicial custody, Pattabhiramana has been released on bail.