Finance influencer dies by suicide; family alleges cyberbullying, ₹3cr demand
What's the story
V Harish, a 27-year-old finance influencer with over 1.3 million followers on Instagram, died by suicide in Chennai. Harish, who ran the social media brand 'Finance With Harish,' was found hanging on Tuesday. His father has alleged that Jason Samuel, the CEO of Zemuria Inc. harassed his son and used the name of Puducherry's Chief Minister to intimidate Harish. In a complaint to the police, he also alleged that a demand for ₹3 crore had been made against Harish.
Allegations detailed
Harish's father accuses Samuel of cyberbullying
Harish's father alleged that Samuel subjected his son to sustained cyberbullying through social media posts and videos, damaging the reputation he had built and causing him severe mental distress.
He alleged that Samuel published videos and posts about Harish on October 18, accusing him of misleading the public.
This content was shared across Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, after which Meta disabled the accounts.
He later began posting videos through a new account, which was also taken down.
Family threats
'Samuel threatened to block my son's social media accounts'
Harish's father alleged that Samuel threatened to block all of his son's social media accounts and harm his family.
"Will you see your parents in Puducherry? I'll hang them," Samuel allegedly told Harish, according to his father.
The influencer's father has asked the police to examine a video recorded by his son before his death.
Police said the victim allegedly died by suicide as he was targeted for offering financial advice without license from SEBI.
Ongoing investigation
Threats to family, mental harassment
In one of the last videos uploaded by him, Harish spoke about being mentally harassed and being upset after a complaint was filed against him with the regulator body SEBI.
"I have been doing this for the last five years and they are allegedly threatening my family by saying I know this chief minister, I know this lawmaker, I can remove all your videos,'" he said, claiming he was mentally harassed through cyberbullying as they were unhappy with his growth.
Denial and mourning
Samuel responds to allegations in post on X
Samuel has denied the allegations of cyberbullying. He said his criticism was focused on Harish's credentials to provide financial advice.
"I am deeply saddened, heavily grieving, shocked and frozen at what has happened and I mourn the loss of life," he wrote.
Samuel alleged that Harish didn't have a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) license from SEBI and misrepresented his registration with AMFI.
"I have not cyber-bullied him," Samuel wrote.