Bengaluru, November 7: The Bengaluru Central Crime Branch (CCB), which is probing the Ambidant ponzi scam, has declared former Minister and mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy an absconder. City Police Commissioner T S Suneel Kumar on Wednesday formed a special team to trace down Reddy and arrest him.

Reddy, a former BJP leader whose brothers are still linked to the party, is accused of availing Rs 18 crore from Ambidant Marketing Pvt Ltd chief Syed Ahmed Fareed, promising to clear him from the police case using his political cout. Modi Government Shielding Reddy Brothers in Mining Scam: Congress.

After the CCB had gathered evidence which proved the money trail leading to Reddy, he was summoned for questioning multiple times. The Ballari strongman, however, refrained from answering the summons.

Addressing the press, CP Suneel Kumar said Fareed, the owner of Ambidant which has duped investors to the tune of Rs 600 crores, had transferred 18 crores to a Bengaluru-based bullion trader. The trader in-turn sent 57 kg of gold in form ingots to  Ramesh Kothari, the owner of Rajmahal Fancy Jewellers. Kothari then transferred the gold to Ali Khan, a close accomplice of Reddy.

Ambidant is accused of defrauding nearly 15,000 people in Karnataka region in 2016-17. Posing as an investment firm, the company had promised depositors 30-40 percent return per annum -- a promise to which they did not comply. The quantum of scam amounts to nearly Rs 600 crores.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 07, 2018 07:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).