Bengaluru Police Probe A&A Chit Fund After Investors Allege Fraud

Bengaluru police have opened a criminal investigation into A&A Chit Fund Finance Limited after more than 700 investors alleged the company defaulted on payouts and its proprietors fled the city. Deputy Commissioner of Police D. Devaraja said the first complaints were filed at Ramamurthy Nagar station on 5 July, prompting officers to register a case and begin tracing the promoters, a husband-and-wife team from Alappuzha, Kerala. One investor told reporters she had lost Rs 30 lakh and claimed the family behind the firm left Bengaluru during city-wide celebrations for the Royal Challengers Bangalore cricket victory, exploiting the distraction to disappear. Police are gathering statements and banking records to estimate the total exposure, which victims say runs into several crores of rupees. Congress leader Ramesh Babu urged the state government to tighten licensing controls over chit funds and questioned whether the Reserve Bank of India should assume supervisory authority. Devaraja said Karnataka’s chit-fund registrar and financial-fraud unit are assisting the probe, and arrest warrants will be issued once the suspects’ whereabouts are confirmed.