R Subramanian, studied at IIT, IIM, once king of retail market, owned Rs 3500 crore business, now to remain in jail for 20 years due to…

R Subramanian is an alumnus of IIT and a graduate of IIM. Known across India for being the founder of the retail chain Subhiksha, engineer R Subramanian was found guilty by a special court in Chennai of defrauding hundreds of investors according to the court ruling on November 20, 2023. The court determined that he had diverted their assets through a network of shell companies, leading to his conviction and a sentence of 20 years in prison. The story of R Subramanian indicates how you can move from hero to zero from a single mistake.

Mistake that led to fall of R Subramanian

The court ruling announced that engineer R Subramanian, the IIT Madras alumnus, was found guilty by a special court in Chennai of defrauding hundreds of investors. The court accepted that Subramanian had diverted the assets of the company through a network of shell companies. As a result of these actions, he was sentenced of 20 years in prison.

R Subramanian was a very hard working person and after working for two years in the market, he started Vishwapriya to offer financial services and later launched Subhiksha in 1997. With the growth of Subhiksha, over 1600 retail stores of the company were opened across India in the next few years. As per media reports, the worth of the company had reached Rs 3500 crore by then. Moreover, he was once trusted by Azim Premji, ICICI Ventures and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

The stores offered a variety of products and gained attention from major investors like Wipro’s Azim Premji and ICICI Bank. However, Subramanian ran a Ponzi-like scheme, diverting investor funds through shell companies and promising high returns. In 2023, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined heavily after admitting to a Rs 137 crore fraud, leading to Subhiksha’s collapse.

Why R Subramanian was arrested!

R Subramanian, the Promoter and Managing Director of Subhiksha of the retail chain that sold products under the category of FMCG (Fast Moving Consuming Goods), pharma, groceries, fruits and vegetables, was arrested under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. An investigation by the ED revealed that Subramanian had an unpaid loan of Rs 77 crore to his name for the purpose of establishing the chain of stores.

(With inputs from agencies)

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