Savitha, a 49-year-old Bengaluru woman, has been arrested for duping over 20 of her friends of crores of rupees after promising them lucrative returns. The accused was earlier arrested in a similar case and was out on bail. Bengaluru police have arrested Savitha and six others involved in what is called being a kitty party fraud.
According to reports, Savitha would offer her friends investment plans, seeking money while promising up to four times returns.
According to reports, one of the victims, Kusuma, who is a widow, said in her complaint to police that she has known Savitha for 30 years and started investing in schemes proposed by Savitha since 2020. According to the FIR, Savitha called Kusuma and proposed a lucrative opportunity of investing in Dubai's low-price gold, promising returns up to four times the investment in 2023. Savitha allegedly convinced her to make the investment and took Rs 24 lakh from Kusuma.
According to Kusuma, in January 2024, Savitha returned the money—double what she had invested—saying she had invested in the Udaya TV project. After this, she again asked for another Rs 10 lakh, promising handsome returns, and Kusuma gave her the money.
Over the next few months, Kusuma gave lakhs to Savitha for various purposes, sometimes for investment and sometimes to help the accused clear her loans and for her daughter's marriage.
Last month, when Kusuma went to Savitha's house asking for her money, which had accumulated to a sum of Rs 95 lakh, Savitha outright refused to return the money, saying she had borrowed money from a lot of people and wouldn't return it to any of them.
In the FIR filed on July 8, Kusuma named Savitha and six other accomplices.
According to reports, Savitha's modus operandi involved identifying wealthy women during morning walks. After befriending rich women, she would invite them to kitty parties and other gatherings where she would make lucrative investment proposals.
To convince the women to invest, she would invoke her alleged connections with the Chief Minister and other ministers.
Savitha was previously arrested for a similar crime and was out on bail. After being released on bail, she continued defrauding people.
