CRB's elaborate web of deceit involved floating 133 shell companies to raise funds from investors which he siphoned off for his own use. Starting in the early 1990s during the NBFC boom, CRB rose rapidly by offering high interest rates and expanding into mutual funds and planned banking, but his fall in 1996 was just as swift once irregularities were discovered. Despite raising nearly Rs. 900 crore from public offerings between 1992-1995, CRB's investments failed and he began defaulting on loans, trying increasingly risky ventures to escape the financial trap he had created, until regulators like RBI and SEBI intervened too late for investors to avoid losses.