The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (APCID) filed a fresh case against Cherukuri Ramoji Rao, Director of Margadarsi Chit Fund Pvt. Ltd. (MCFPL) and Cherukuri Sailaja Kiron, Managing Director of the organisation, alleging that they forged the signature of their company shareholder and transferred the shares illegally.
Based on a complaint filed by 62-year-old Gadireddi Yuri Reddi, son of late G. Jagannadha Reddi, a resident of Hyderabad, the CID has filed the FIR, which The Hindu has accessed.
In the complaint, Mr. Reddi explained that his father assumed the role of Promoter Director in MCFPL through his initial investment of ₹5,000 on August 31, 1962. He further explained that his father became a signatory to the Memorandum and Articles of Association. “Originally, my father had 90 shares valued at ₹48 each. Over time, the shareholding increased, and in the balance sheets filed with the Registrar of Companies for the year 2014, my father’s shareholding was documented as 288 shares,” Mr. Yuri Reddi said, adding that his father passed away in 1985 and mother in 1986.
Mr. Reddi said as he came to know about the investments of his father only in 2014, he approached Mr. Ramoji Rao and requested transfer of his father’s shares to him in 2016. He said that he has one sibling by name Martin, who did not object to transferring the shares on his name.
Mr. Reddi said, “Mr. Ramoji Rao handed over a cheque for ₹39,74,400 on September 29, 2016, stating that it was the dividend calculated for the year 2007-08. I requested him to transfer the dividend for the later years as well, to which Mr. Ramoji Rao said he will settle that at a later date. At this juncture, Mr. Ramoji Rao instructed us to put our (me and my brother’s) signatures on an affidavit prepared on a ₹100 stamp paper dated September 26, 2016, which stated that my brother had no objection to transferring the shares held in our father’s name to my name. At the same time, they handed over a post-dated cheque for ₹2,88,000 drawn on Union Bank of India, issued by Margadarsi Financiers. They asked me to sign Form SH4, for which I initially refused. Mr. Ramoji Rao threatened me and my brother at gunpoint and forced us to sign on the stamp papers,’‘ he alleged.
‘’To ensure our safety, I eventually signed on the SH4 form, and a ₹100 stamp paper captioned as affidavit, and some other documents. The SH4 form did not contain the name of the transferee and date. And, as I have no intention of transferring the shares, I have not presented the cheque for collection of money. As of 2016, the value of the shares that have been transferred and held in my name was ₹1,59,69,600 at the rate of ₹55,450 each,” he alleged.
However, his shares were transferred in the name of Ms. Sailaja Kiron, by force, illegally and by forging his signature, he alleged.
The CID filed a case, Crime Number 17/2023, under sections 420, 467, 120B read with 34 of IPC, at Mangalagiri on October 13 and submitted the report to VI Additional Junior Civil Court, Guntur.
