In a video purported to be his last, V Harish, the 27-year-old finance influencer who died by suicide after alleged cyberbullying, claimed that he was being harassed and money was being demanded of him, leading to severe stress for him and his family.
A finance influencer with over 1.3 million followers on Instagram, Harish died by suicide in his Chennai home and his father has alleged he was cyberbullied by the CEO of a venture studio.
V Harish ran the popular social media brand ‘Finance With Harish’ on Instagram and YouTube. His father claims he was “targeted” by Jason Samuel, the CEO of venture studio Zemuria Inc. Harish’s Instagram handle was disabled by Meta following Samuel’s allegations, and he had been releasing videos on a new handle. Samuel has denied the allegations of harassing Harish.
In the video, which Harish’s friends claimed was his last, the influencer says that his five years of hard work has been stolen, probably referring to the blocking of his accounts following complaints.
Read | Influencer Kills Self, Father Claims Bullying By Tech CEO. He Responds
NDTV could not independently verify the video.
“It is five years of my hard work. If you find any mistakes in me, you can question me, and I am ready to respond. But my five years of hard work have been stolen,” Harish said in the video.
He further alleged that he and his family were harassed and money demands were made of him. He is not heard mentioning names in the video.
“He said that my family would be targeted. He claimed that he had connections with MLAs and even chief minister in Puducherry, knowing that I belong to Puducherry. He also demanded money and asked me, ‘Where will you go without paying me?'” Harish alleged in the video.
“I don’t know what to do. He created a situation in which I felt that other people were getting a bad name because of me,” Harish continued.
“I felt guilty even when I met my friends. He mentally harassed me by saying that if the Income Tax Department imposed a penalty, I would have to pay a 60% penalty and could even face imprisonment.”
He further alleged that his “harasser” asked for money to reach a compromise.
“He told me, ‘Instead of facing all that, pay me the money and let us reach a compromise. Otherwise, we will release part 2 and part 3.'”
I am deeply saddened, heavily grieving, shocked and frozen at what has happened and I mourn the loss of life. I have not cyber-bullied him. I pointed out his lack of license and authority, misrepresentation of license and fraud on SEBI and AMFI where he has not got SEBI RIA for his work and misrepresented that he had an AMFI license when he got the ARN only recently. i.e., his illegal activity. 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.
— Jason Samuel (@the_jasonsamuel) October 20, 2026
In a post on X on Tuesday evening, Samuel said he was shocked by Harish’s death, but emphasised that he had only pointed out that the influencer had “misrepresented” facts. He claimed Harish was not a SEBI Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) and had got his AMFI Registration Number (ARN) from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) only recently.
Harish’s father has alleged that harassment and bullying by Samuel led his son to take his own life.
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