Meet man who studied at IIT, IIM, launched his business, now set to remain in jail for 20 years due to...

R Subramanian is an accomplished man with a wealth of skills. He is a banker, an entrepreneur, an engineer, and a prisoner. For defrauding investors, R Subramanian, the founder of the retail chain Subhiksha and an IIT alumnus with an IIM degree, was given a 20-year prison sentence. As per the court ruling on November 20, 2023, renowned engineer Subramanian of IIT Madras was found guilty by a special court in Chennai of defrauding hundreds of investors and diverting their assets through various shell companies.

He has established and run profitable companies like Viswapriya, a financial services provider that enticed investors with appealing schemes, and Subhiksha, a retail chain that formerly boasted over 1,600 locations throughout India. In May 1991, Subramanian launched his first company, Viswapriya, providing financial services. He then launched Subhiksha in 1997. With its wide range of schemes, Viswapriya drew in a lot of investors. As of right now, 587 investors have not received their money back. 

In the last ten years, Subramanian has not voluntarily deposited any money, and he has defaulted on over Rs 137 crore to depositors in all programmes. The court fined him Rs 8.92 crore, and the guilty organisations were fined Rs 191.98 crore. A total of Rs 180 crore of this sum is designated for depositor compensation. The court's ruling mandates that the compensation funds be transferred to an authorised organisation, which will subsequently disburse them following verification of the documentation provided by the impacted investors.