A Bengaluru court has directed a Kerala couple, accused of cheating over 500 investors in a chit firm they operated in east Bengaluru for over 25 years, to appear before the Criminal Investigation Department on or before September 4.
The couple — Tomy A Varghese, 57, and his wife Shini Tomy, 52 — who are accused of fleeing to Africa after cheating investors through the A&A Chit Funds and Finance firm, were granted anticipatory bail with sureties of Rs 10 lakh each on August 21.
“Initially, they shall appear before the investigation officer on or before 4.9.2025 and co-operate with further investigation in the case,” the Bengaluru Principal District and Sessions Court has stated.
The anticipatory bail was granted after the couple informed the court that they had not fled the country but had travelled to Nigeria for a family event and returned to India after two weeks. The court was also told that the case involves documentary evidence, and the influencing of witnesses would not be a reason for denial of bail.
“Further, the materials on record give an impression that alleged investments with A & A Chit Funds and non-refund of the amount to the investors can be proved based on documentary evidence. Added to the above, the Petitioner No.2 is a woman and Petitioner No.1 is said to be aged 57 years,” the district court observed.
“Thus, taking into consideration the totality of the allegations made against the petitioners and the materials placed on record to prima facie support those allegations, this court opines that the petitioners have made out valid grounds to extend them the benefit of anticipatory bail as prayed in the petition and subject to conditions,” the district court said on August 21.
The couple has been accused of collecting about ₹63 crore from 523 individuals as chit subscriptions and deposits and committing fraud by not returning the funds.
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The alleged scam came to light when a cheating complaint was filed against the couple by a senior citizen, P T Savio, 63, a Ramamurthy Nagar resident, who allegedly lost Rs 70 lakh in the scam. Dozens of investors approached the Ramamurthy Nagar police station in east Bengaluru with complaints of being defrauded by A&A Chit Funds, operated by the Tomy couple.
“They have collected Rs 70 lakh from me and my family and several crores from others. When we visited the office of the company, we found it closed and the couple was missing. Their phones were also switched off,” Savio stated in his complaint, based on which the Ramamurthy Nagar police registered a case on July 5.
The police had registered a case under Section 4 of the Chit Funds Act 1982, Section 21 of the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Ordinance 2019 (U/s-21); and sections 318 and 316 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for cheating and criminal breach of trust.
The Karnataka Government later transferred the case to the CID. The police issued lookout circulars for the couple after learning that they had left the country.
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Initial investigations found that 368 investors in A&A Chit Funds had been cheated of a total of ₹39.66 crore.
The couple was accused of fleeing to Africa on July 3, two days before the First Information Report (FIR) was registered against them. They sold all their property for half the price before escaping, police said after the case was filed.