The 54-year-old CEO of Rippsons Group of Companies and franchise operator of a share-broking firm, committed suicide by hanging at his residence on Saturday afternoon. Huge financial losses and the fear of being arrested could have led him to take the step, police said. However, no suicide note was found.
The deceased, identified as Ripon Malhotra hailing from Pune, had allegedly cheated many people of shares worth Rs 200 crore. He was a resident of Ashwini Layou and was running share broking firms. Police said Malhotra bought shares in various well-known companies, franchises and individuals across the country after getting them to invest in his business.
After learning about the various cases filed against him across the country, the City Crime Branch (CCB) police had detained Malhotra a couple of times for questioning.
On February 17, 2007, the economic and cyber offences wing (EOW) had booked Ripon Malhotra and wife Alphonsa Malhotra for allegedly duping a retired person of Rs 10 lakh by illegally transferring his shares to their accounts in Pune.