Meet man who studied at IIT, IIM, started his own company, now serving 20-year jail term for…

Have you ever considered a man who graduated from IIT and IIM, founded his own business, and embezzled crores of rupees? True enough, this is a true story based on the life of R Subramanian, a multitalented man who has accomplished a great deal in his life. In addition to being a prosperous banker, businessman, and engineer, he is currently serving a prison sentence. Subramanian, who is an IIT alumnus and has an IIM degree, founded the retail chain Subhiksha. However, he was found guilty of defrauding investors and was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a special court in Chennai on November 20, 2023.

Subramanian founded his company, Viswapriya, in May 1991, which provided financial services and was successful in attracting many investors with appealing schemes. He later launched Subhiksha in 1997, which was a retail chain with over 1,600 locations throughout India. Unfortunately, Subramanian's actions led to hundreds of investors being defrauded, and their assets were diverted through various shell companies. 587 investors have not received their money back.

Over the last ten years, Subramanian has not made any voluntary deposits, and he has defaulted on over Rs 137 crore to depositors in all programmes. As a result, the court fined him Rs 8.92 crore, and the guilty organizations were fined Rs 191.98 crore. Out of this amount, Rs 180 crore has been set aside for depositor compensation. The court has instructed that the compensation funds be transferred to an authorized organization, which will verify the documentation provided by the impacted investors and disburse the funds accordingly.