Kochi |The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Economic Offences, has denied permission for Ranjit Kumar Ramachandran, former Chief General Manager of Business Performance (South) at Muthoot Finance, the key accused in the Muthoot Insurance Brokers employee rewards fraud case to travel to France. Meanwhile the police informed the court that the accused is not cooperating with the investigation. The court also denied another application by the accused to release the passport.
Denying the application seeking to participate in a global leadership initiative in France the court observed “On going through the materials produced by the prosecution at this stage and the case of the prosecution, it is clear that the allegation against the petitioner is serious in nature and the company was cheated and an amount of more than ₹11 Crores were allegedly misappropriated by the petitioner and the other accused in the crime”. Also, the prosecution specifically contended that the petitioner may abscond and that releasing the passport would interfere with the ongoing investigation into whether funds obtained by cheating the complainant were transferred to foreign countries.
The application was strongly opposed by the prosecution. In the objection filed by the investigation team, it was contended that Ranjit has not been cooperating with the investigation and that modifying the travel restriction would lead to his absconding, thereby severely affecting the case investigation. The court specifically cited the High Court's existing conditions requiring the petitioner to cooperate with the investigation and subject himself to deemed police custody when demanded.
The court also took into consideration the fact that the anticipatory bail granted to the accused, as well as the subsequent order modifying the bail condition, has been challenged by the complainant before the Supreme Court of India, where the matter is currently pending consideration.
The court's denial was also significantly influenced by the petitioner's prior unsuccessful attempts to modify the bail conditions. Although granted anticipatory bail on 30.07.2025 with the liberty to approach the court for modification, the petitioner instead approached the High Court in August 2025 seeking to alter the restriction on leaving the State of Kerala, which was previously declined. Ultimately, the court denied the modification, concluding that it was not inclined to relax the High Court-imposed bail condition after considering all factors, including the nature and seriousness of the offense, the stage of investigation, and the petitioner's alleged non-cooperation.
The case also includes Thomas P. Rajan, the suspended Chief Executive Officer of Muthoot Insurance Brokers Pvt. Ltd., and pertains to an alleged ₹11.92 crore internal fraud involving the misappropriation of employee rewards at Muthoot Insurance Brokers Pvt. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Muthoot Finance Ltd. The alleged fraud is reported to have occurred between April 2023 and November 2024.
