Wife of main accused in Vikram Investment scam files for anticipatory bail

BENGALURU: Sunitha Acharya, wife of Raghavendra Srinath, the main accused in the Vikram Investment scam, has sought anticipatory bail in city sessions courts in at least 13 cases. So far, the 48-year-old Sunitha has obtained bail in one case and the courts are expected to deliver verdicts on the other 12 bail applications.
Raghavendra was founder-director of Vikram Investments and Sunitha has been named in some of the several cases that have been filed in various police stations across the city.Police say she is still at large, while Raghavendra and four wealth managers — Narasimhamurthy, Prahlad, K C Nagaraj and Sutram Suresh, all accused in the alleged scam — are still in judicial custody.
In the one case where she obtained bail, Sunitha argued through her counsel that her name was not mentioned in the complaint copy or FIR. “There is no material evidence against her to show her as guilty in the alleged offence,” her advocate argued.
Her advocate claimed Acharya is a recognized reader and is a senior lecturer in a prestigious college. Her reputation will be tarnished if she is arrested.
The alleged scam broke in early March after one investor filed a case in the Banashankari police station claiming the firm had stopped paying returns on his investments. A flood of cases were filed thereafter by many investors and the four wealth managers were accused of roping in celebrity clients, including former India cricket captain Rahul Dravid and badminton legend Prakash Padukone, to invest in the firm. The case was handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) who will file charge sheets soon.