Ponzi Scam: Janardhana Reddy appears before police for questioning in dramatic style

In a dramatic style, former Karnataka minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy, who the police said had been absconding, reached the Central Crime Branch office in a car along with his advocates in Bengaluru on Saturday in connection with an alleged Ponzi scam, and denied the allegations as a "political conspiracy".

 Reddy, who had elusive for three days, appeared before the police after releasing a video message from an unknown location, saying he would appear before it. Reddy claimed that there was a "political conspiracy" and added that he had faith in the police.

"I have not committed anything wrong. The police do not have a single document to prove that I am wrong. They are misleading the media," he claimed in his video message telecast by TV channels.

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 Reddy, who was a minister in the erstwhile Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka, said: "Now that the notice has been issued by the police, I have decided to appear before the Central Crime Branch today itself though the notice says I should appear on Sunday," Reddy said.

"I decided to make this video to let people know the truth. I have faith in the police and believe that they would not succumb to any political pressure," he added.

What is the case against Janardhana Reddy?  

# The CCB had stumbled on Reddy’s role while probing cheating cases filed against Ambident, a financial services company, for defrauding more than 15,000 people to the tune of more than Rs 600 crore through Ponzi schemes. 

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# The CCB found that Syed Ahmed Fareed, founder of Ambident, had approached the former minister for help in dodging investigations launched by the Enforcement Department (ED) in the aftermath of cases registered by Bengaluru police this year.

# The police said Janardhan Reddy sought Rs 20 crore in the form of gold to help Fareed. Gold worth Rs 20 crore was allegedly transferred by Fareed to Bellary-based Rajmahal Fancy Jeweller, associated with Reddy and his group. The jeweller allegedly transferred the gold to Reddy, the CCB said.

# A search was launched for Janardhan Reddy and his close aide, Ali Khan, who negotiated the Rs 20-crore deal, the Bengaluru police commissioner had said Wednesday.

(With PTI inputs)