On Tuesday (20 October), V Harish, a 27-year-old finance influencer, died by suicide at his rented villa in Muttukadu near Chennai. He ran the popular social media brand “Finance with Harish” and had more than 1.3 million Instagram followers.
His father, J Vinayagam, has lodged a complaint against Jason Samuel, CEO of Zemuria Inc., at the Kanathur police. According to the complaint, Jason has cyberbullied Harish and given him death threats, causing severe mental distress. Samual also demanded 3 crore from Harish and threatened to harm his family, including his parents in Puducherry. Samuel also invoked the names of a Puducherry MLA and the Chief Minister while threatening Harish.
On Sunday (18 October), Samuel published videos and posts accusing Harish of fraud and misleading the public. Harish’s main Instagram account was disabled by Meta after Samuel raised allegations about his credentials. His father has asked police to examine the video Harish recorded before his death, along with messages, posts and other digital evidence.
He has also sought an investigation into the circumstances in which Meta suspended Harish’s accounts and whether any other individuals were involved in the alleged harassment.
His final words… The pain behind this heartbreaking loss 💔 #FinanceWithHarish https://t.co/gyzx8pyhSg
— MsTom Prem (@Mstomprem) October 20, 2026
In the video, described by friends as his last, Harish said his “five years of hard work” had been stolen. He said that he and his family were being harassed and that money was being demanded from him.
He later said that he had been threatened with income-tax action, a 60% penalty and imprisonment. He also said that his harasser claimed political connections and warned that “part 2 and part 3” would be released if he did not pay.
Samuel has denied the allegations. In a post on X, he said he was “deeply saddened, heavily grieving, shocked and frozen” by Harish’s death, but insisted: “I have not cyber-bullied him.”
Samuel said he had only pointed out that Harish was not a SEBI-registered investment adviser and had allegedly misrepresented his AMFI registration. “I literally asked him in the video to come back and do this with a proper SEBI license. I never intended or expected this drastic measure to happen and I mourn the loss,” he said
Kanathur police have registered a case of unnatural death and are looking into the statements of both sides.
