Deccan Chronicle chairman held for bank fraud

A CBI team from Bengaluru on Saturday arrested  T Venkatram Reddy, owner of the erstwhile IPL team Deccan Chargers and Chairman of Board of Deccan Chronicle, for submitting  forged documents  to the Canara Bank for procuring a loan of Rs 350 crore.

CBI officials had taken custody of his brother T Vinayak Ravi Reddy after they were grilled for hours at the CBI regional office in Kothi. After a routine check up by a medical team from Osmania General Hospital at the office, they were presented before the Judge of CBI Special Court at his Secunderabad residence. Reddy is likely to be taken to Bengaluru for further questioning after obtaining transit warrant from the court.

 Canara Bank has lodged a complaint alleging that he secured a loan of Rs 1,230 crore from the bank by furnishing forged documents. The CBI registered cases against the accused under Sections 120-B read with 420, 468 and 471 of the IPC. Between 2009-2011, since he introduced the Deccan Chargers team of the IPL, Venkatram Reddy had raised nearly Rs 1,250 to Rs 2,000 crore loans from various private and public sector banks and defaulted. The fraud was perpetrated at Canara Bank's prime corporate branch in Secunderabad, the complaint had stated. According to the complaint, the bank had suffered a loss of Rs 357.77 crore due to the fraud.

Sources said Reddy borrowed Rs 50 crore from Andhra Bank, Rs 100 crore from Corporation Bank, Rs 50 crore from the State Bank of Hyderabad and the rest from other private banks like Axis bank. Most of the properties of the DC editor-cum-owner in Hyderabad, including his Begumpet home and Kondapur Press, have already been subpoenaed by the banks and other financial institutions.

According to CBI sources, along with Venkatram Reddy, the CBI had questioned several Andhra Bank officials at Bengaluru for lending Rs 50 crore to a defaulter. At least five Andhra Bank officials were still in CBI custody. Venkatram Reddy's flamboyant lifestyle, extravagance and aggressive attitude seem to have led to the present crisis of his business empire Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited.