Kerala bizman duped of Rs 6 crore

MADURAI: A businessman from Kerala was allegedly cheated of Rs six crore by a group of conmen, who lured him with the promise of obtaining funding to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore for his finance firm from a Karaikudi-based financier.
According to police, Mathew, 60, from Pathanamthitta district in Kerala is the owner of Muthoottu Mini finance firm, which has 1,300 branches.
In March this year, a man named Sanjay Menon, also from Kerala, approached him and told him that a financier in Karaikudi was interested in investing Rs 1,000 crore in his firm.
A little later, he introduced two more men- Raja Menon,40, son of Mohideen, and Vendhan alias Meiyappan,70, from Karaikudi.
The three apparently told him that Vendhan was the secretary of the Nagarathar Trust, which belongs to the Chettiar community.
Deputy superintendant of police of Sivaganga district crime branch N Ramasamy, who is the investigating officer, said Mathew attracted by the low interest rate of 2.4% proposed by the group.
However, they told him that he would have to give Rs six crore as processing fee for the loan. Mathew is believed to have immediately transferred funds to the tune of Rs four crore on March 2, 3 and 4, 2015 through his Axis Bank account to Vendhan’s account.
Ten days later, he had come in person, met the men and handed over Rs two crore to them.
After that there was no further communication from them, or any signs of funds. After a long wait, Mathew decided to meet the Sivaganga SP M Durai and hand over his complaint in person.
The SP who conducted preliminary investigations, constituted three special teams led by the DSP Ramasamy, another by inspector Mareeswari and another by sub-inspector Muthiah.
Investigations reportedly revealed that Vendhan was not a member of the Nagarathar Trust as claimed by the group and did not even belong to the Chettiar community.
The DSP said they were zeroing in on the suspects, who were absconding, and would arrest them soon. They are also on the lookout for more people who were in nexus with the gang.