Manipal Group fraud: No bail to 3 women

A court on Friday refused to grant bail to three women arrested along with the deputy general manager (finance) of the Manipal Education and Medical Group for defrauding the company of Rs 62 crore.

P N Charusmita, 30, the wife of the prime suspect, Sandeep Gururaj, 38, and Amrita Chengappa, 34, sought bail on the grounds that they have a child at home. Amrita’s mother, Meera Chengappa, 59, sought bail on health grounds.

Opposing the bail applications, public prosecutor G N Arun stated that the money was transferred from Gururaj’s personal bank account to the accounts of the three women.

He pointed out that the police investigation was ongoing and that releasing the suspects on bail could result in tampering with evidence and influencing the witnesses. The 8th additional chief metropolitan magistrate (ACMM) rejected the bail applications.

On January 7, the Cubbon Park police had arrested Gururaj, the DGM (Finance), accusing him of transferring Rs 62 crore belonging to Manipal Group to his personal account and then to the accounts of his wife Charusmita, Meera and Amrita.

Benami companies

He is also accused of transferring the money to benami companies in the past three years. Police suspect Gururaj was having an affair with Amrita.

The complaint was filed by Ranjan Pai, the chairman of Manipal Group, and his wife Shruti Pai.