Police in India have launched a manhunt for a couple from Kerala, a state on India's Malabar Coast, accused of defrauding over 300 investors through a fraudulent chit fund scheme before fleeing to Kenya.
Authorities say the duo is suspected to have escaped the country just days before formal charges were filed.
According to reports from The Indian Express, the couple allegedly scammed 368 individuals out of nearly Rs 40 crore, equivalent to approximately Ksh602 million, through their chit funds, a traditional scheme that combines savings and borrowing, or what we locally call Chamas, which they operated in East Bengaluru since 2005. One of the complaints came from a senior citizen who reportedly lost approximately Ksh10.5 million (Rs 70 lakh) in the scheme.
The suspects, aged 57 and 52, reportedly sold their apartment in Krishnarajapuram and liquidated other assets, including vehicles, before vanishing.
Indian authorities believe the move was part of a well-planned effort to exit the country and avoid prosecution.
“It is pre-planned cheating. They have sold everything they owned in Bengaluru and fled. They are suspected to be in a country in Africa,” a police source told Indian media. Investigators now believe the couple boarded a flight to Kenya on July 3, just two days before they were booked.
Police say the number of victims could be significantly higher than initially reported. “During the preliminary investigation, it has been found that about 750 to 800 people have made chit fund and finance investments in this company,” a source revealed.
Authorities added that crowds of victims have been gathering outside the police station daily to file complaints against the couple's chit fund and finance firm. “The number of people who have been cheated is likely to increase, and the amount defrauded may cross hundreds of crores of rupees,” the source warned.
Indian police are said to be working with Interpol and foreign counterparts to track the suspects and potentially initiate extradition proceedings.
Meanwhile, victims of the scam have continued to demand justice and restitution, accusing the couple of exploiting trust and preying on vulnerable investors.
In April this year, an Indian man was left counting losses after he was conned out of ₹9.72 lakh (about Ksh1.5 million in current exchange rates) in an AI trading scheme carried out by a team of fraudsters based in Nairobi, Kenya.
According to a report by The Hindu, the 35-year-old man from Hyderabad had been promised high returns in an AI-based trading platform by the fraudsters who were operating under a platform dubbed Bull Markets.
