Top Hero Group official asked to join Citibank fraud probe

GURGAON - The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Hero Corporate Ltd, which was allegedly duped in the Rs.300 crore Citibank fraud, was Friday called by Gurgaon police to join the investigations, sources said here.

Sanjay Gupta who used to deal with Sanjay Puri (Citibank’s relationship manager and mastermind of the scam) joined the investigations today. Other associates of Hero Group will also be called to give their statements, a highly placed source said.

Hero Corporate is one of the associates of Hero Group which had invested money in Puri’s account.

Officials from Religare and Bonanza were also called Friday and their statements were recorded. We have to go through a lot of documents and every day one CFO will be called to give details, he further said.

Shivraj Puri had surrendered Thursday and was handed a seven-day police remand even as the quantum of his alleged fraud was raised three times to Rs.300 crore ($65 million).

According to police, firms belonging to the Delhi-based Hero Group invested Rs.200 crore in Puri’s account and Rs.100 crore was invested by individuals. Puri, in turn, invested the money in five major brokerages, including Religare, Okaya and Bonanza.

Some 40 teams have also been constituted to track some 81 accounts into which the 32-year-old accused is alleged to have deposited the money.

The Hero Group Friday said that its exposure to the scam was just Rs.28.75 crore and that investments were made by its entities.