The alleged investment fraud involving APPEXX Bizcorp LLP has been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), making it the third major deposit scam from Belagavi district to be transferred to the state agency in the past two months. The earlier cases involving Shivam Associates and Adityaraj Capital were also referred to the CID following allegations of illegal deposit mobilisation and failure to repay investors.
Belagavi City Police Commissioner Bhushan Borase confirmed that the case qualifies for a CID investigation as the alleged fraud exceeds ₹50 crore.
“Since the alleged scam is above ₹50 crore, the investigation automatically comes under the CID. We are handing over the case to the agency,” Borase told reporters.
According to the police, APPEXX Bizcorp LLP, a trading firm operating from the first floor of Renuka Niwas Apartment in Mangalwar Peth, Tilakwadi, allegedly collected nearly ₹160 crore from more than 3,000 investors by promising returns of 4% per month.
A case has been registered at Tilakwadi Police Station against Chief Managing Director Kashinath Mahadev Waghmare, Managing Director Ganesh Parashuram Bhandare, Deputy Manager Santosh, and other partners of the firm. The complaint was lodged by Ashok Virupaksha Bisguppi of Koujalagi village in Gokak taluk.
Police have invoked provisions of the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments Act, 2004, the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019, and relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Hundreds of investors had staged a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office earlier this week, alleging that the company had stopped responding to depositors and demanding a comprehensive investigation into the firm’s finances and its promoters.
Company records show that APPEXX Bizcorp LLP, a Limited Liability Partnership, was incorporated on January 10, 2024, with its registered office in Mangalwar Peth, Tilakwadi.
The APPEXX Bizcorp case follows the Shivam Associates scam, in which the company allegedly mobilised deposits worth thousands of crores by promising high monthly returns. More than 30 bank accounts linked to the firm were frozen, and its promoter, Shivanand Neelannavar, was arrested before the case was transferred to the CID. He was later granted bail.
Last month, the CID also took over the investigation into Adityaraj Capital, another alleged investment fraud in Belagavi. The company is accused of collecting hundreds of crores from investors through illegal deposit schemes, while its Maharashtra-based promoter has secured anticipatory bail.
With three major investment fraud cases now under CID investigation, authorities are expected to examine the financial transactions, assets, and operations of the firms to determine the extent of the alleged scams and trace the funds collected from investors.