Margadarsi Chairman Threatened Me at Gunpoint, Seized My Shares: Says Complainant
Vijayawada: Complainant G Yuri Reddi has stated that his family shares in Margadarsi were changed to top functionary Ch Shailaja's name by force and through threats by Ramoji group chairman Ch Ramoji Rao.
Addressing the media here on Tuesday, Yuri Reddi alleged that Ramoji Rao threatened him with a gun and manhandled him when he refused to act as per Ramoji Rao’s wishes. “Now, as the AP CID conducts an investigation against Margadarsi, I came forward to lodge a police complaint seeking justice,” he said.
Yuri Reddi claimed that Margadarsi chairman Cherukuri Ramoji Rao, at gunpoint, coerced him into signing empty stamp papers that deprived his family of their rightful shares in the Margadarshi group. Yuri Reddy is the son of Gadireddi Jagannadha Reddi, widely known as GJ Reddi.
Citing the progression of events in the past, Yuri Reddy said his father had appointed Ramoji Rao as a typist-cum-steno in the former’s company, Navabharat Enterprises during the late 1950s. “Impressed with the skills of Ramoji Rao, GJ Reddi gave Rs 5,000 to him to start the Margadarsi chit fund group in 1962.
“In return, GJ Reddi was allotted 90 shares in the Margadarsi group at that time. Eventually those shares rose to 288. In 2016, the same shares were fraudulently transferred to the name of the group’s managing director Shailaja Kiran without my consent, by threatening me over a gun, and I was handed over a cheque of Rs 39 lakh as dividend, which counted only up to 2007,” he alleged.
He said, “My father GJ Reddi hails from Jonnapadu village in Krishna district. After completing his higher education in Czechoslovakia, he returned to India and established the Navabharat Enterprises and the groups of companies with their headquarters in New Delhi.”
“With the financial support of my father, Ramoji Rao founded Margadarsi Chit Funds Pvt Ltd and the company was incorporated on August 31, 1962. My father assumed the role of its promoter director.”
He claimed that, over time, the firm’s shareholding increased. In the balance sheets filed with the Register of Companies for the year 2014, my father's shareholding was documented as ‘288 shares’. My father was forced to flee India after the Emergency in India during the Congress rule in 1977.”
Yuri Reddi’s advocate Sivarami Reddy stated that later, GJ Reddi with his family settled in Czechoslovakia. GJ Reddi died in 1985.
He explained that though GJ Reddi told his sons about him having the shareholdings in multiple companies in India, Yuri Reddi and his brother Martin did not follow up on these till a news report emerged in 2014.
The news report claimed that GJ Reddi was having shares in Margadarsi.
Thereon, Yuri Reddi tried to meet Ramoji but his efforts were in vain. However, in 2016, with the help of a few people, Yuri Reddi met Ramoji Rao. It was then that Ramoji threatened Yuri Reddi at gunpoint. “I was scared to lodge a complaint with police then in view of Ramoji Rao’s huge influence with the government.”
Yuri Reddi claimed, “There is no need for me to file a case against Ramoji Rao if he had given us our rightful dividend for all these years. Instead, he threatened me and fraudulently transferred my shares to Shailaja Kiran. I have no intention of selling my shares to anyone.”
“After I heard that the AP CID was investigating the irregularities in the Margadarsi group, I gathered courage and lodged a complaint with CID”, he said.
