Hero group-the first victim of Citi-fraud

New Delhi, Dec 31: After Citibank's Gurgaon branch unearthed the massive internal fraud worth Rs 300 crore, the first of the high-profile victims have been named. One of India's large business houses, Hero Group, on Thursday said that it is a victim of the estimated Rs 300 crore Citibank fraud in which some investors were allegedly swindled.

"Some of the Hero Group entities, along with some others, are victims of the fraud conducted through one of the Citi branches in Gurgaon," Hero Group said in a statement.

The group said an enquiry is in progress and next steps will be decided post the enquiry.

The fraud of such magnitude was carried out by Shiv Raj Puri, the bank's relationship manager. He conned high net worth clients into investing in schemes that promised high returns. He also produced fake Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) forms for the purpose.

According to a police officer directly supervising the issue, most of the corporates who invested through Shiv Raj Puri is with the Hero Group.

Naveen Munjal of Hero Exports alone had given around Rs 50 crore to Puri for further investment, the officer had said.

As per Gurgaon Police Commissioner S S Deswal, of Rs 300 crore involved in the fraud, Rs 200 crore belonged to corporates and Rs 100 crore to individuals. The police have arrested Puri, who had allegedly collected money from High Networth Individuals (HNIs) in a fraudulent manner by promising unusually high returns of 18 per cent.

OneIndia News
(With inputs from PTI)