Chit fund chairman cheated my family, alleges Yuri Reddi

Vijayawada: Gadireddi Yuri Reddi, son of Gadireddi Jagannadha Reddi, popularly known as GJ Reddi, has levelled serious allegations against Margadarsi chit funds chairman Cherukuri Ramoji Rao. Yuri on Tuesday alleged at a conference that Ramoji Rao threatened him with a gun and coerced him into signing empty stamp papers that deprived his family of its rightful shares in Margadarsi group. He claimed that GJ Reddi appointed Ramoji Rao as a typist-cum-stenographer in his company, Navabharat Enterprises, in the late 1950s. “Impressed with the skills of Ramoji Rao, GJ Reddi gave him 5,000 to start Margadarsi chit fund group in 1962. In return, GJ Reddi was given 90 shares which eventually rose to 288. In 2016, the same shares were fraudulently transferred in the name of the group’s managing director Shailaja Kiran without his consent and by threat. He was handed over a cheque of 39 lakh as dividend which accounted for only up to 2007,” alleged Yuri Reddi. Yuri Reddi said his father hailed from Jonnapadu village in Krishna district. After completing his higher education in Czechoslovakia, he returned to India and established Navabharat Enterprises and other groups of companies with headquarters in New Delhi. With the financial support of his father, Ramoji Rao founded Margadarsi Chit Funds Private Ltd, he claimed. The company was incorporated on August 31, 1962 and his father assumed the role of promoter-director, Yuri Reddi said.He added over time, the shareholding increased, and in the balance sheets filed with the register of companies for the year 2014, his father’s shareholding was recorded as 288 shares. “My father was forced to flee India post Emergency in 1977,” Yuri Reddi said.Later, their family settled in Czechoslovakia and GJ Reddi died in 1985. Though GJ Reddi told his sons about his shareholdings in multiple companies in India, Yuri Reddi and his brother Martin did not follow up on the matter till a news report emerged in 2014, said Yuri Reddi’s advocate D Siva Rami Reddy. After the report claimed GJ Reddi has shares in Margadarsi, Yuri Reddi tried to meet Ramoji but his efforts went in vain. However, in 2016 with the help of a few persons, Yuri Reddi met Ramoji Rao at the latter’s place. It was when Ramoji threatened Yuri, according to the latter. He added he was scared to lodge a complaint with police taking into consideration Ramoji Rao’s influence in the society.“There is no need for me to file a case against Ramoji Rao if he had given us our rightful dividends for all these years. Instead, he threatened and fraudulently transferred my shares to Shailaja Kiran. After I found that AP CID was investigating the alleged irregularities in the Margadarsi group, I gathered courage and lodged a complaint with CID”, Yuri Reddi said.
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