A part of the funds involved in the Rs 300 crore fraud at Citibank, allegedly masterminded by employee Shivraj Puri, was pumped into the real estate sector, sources said.
Investigations into the fraud have revealed that Puri invested a part of the funds in property, police sources said, adding that the amount was small, compared to the money that went into the stock market.
Puri, the Relationships Manager with Citibank, is reported to have paid token money to real estate companies for buying properties.
The bulk of the funds, however, were invested by Puri in Nifty options -- which are derivative products with the NSE benchmark index Nifty as the underlying asset -- where the investor has no obligation to take delivery and needs to pay only margin money.
In this derivatives segment, investors bet on the upward or downward movement of the Nifty and the returns depend on the accuracy of such bets.
Puri, whose policy custody was extended by six days by a local court, has been investing in the stock market through brokerage firms Religare and Bonanza. Some money was also routed through Norman Martin, a firm owned by his relative.
Several persons, including the promoters of the Hero Group and Helion Advisors Managing Director Sanjeev Aggarwal, lost crores of rupees in the Citibank fraud that was uncovered last week.
Puri is accused of luring high net-worth individuals to invest in bogus schemes by promising of unusually high returns, which he falsely substantiated with a forged letter from market regulator Sebi.
