Chennai's Central Crime Branch (CCB) police have arrested three men for allegedly cheating businessmen and members of the public by promising to arrange loans in return for hefty service charges and advance payments, police said.
Source: The Hindu
According to police, Manivannan, 62, a businessman from Anna Nagar, was promised a loan to expand his business. The accused, Lion Muthuvel alias B.M. Chettiar, and his associates allegedly persuaded him to pay an advance as a service charge and collected ₹2 crore from him. They also allegedly obtained signed cheques and his signatures on blank papers.
The accused allegedly failed to arrange the promised loan and continued to demand additional money, threatening and cheating the complainant, police said. Manivannan then lodged a complaint with the Chennai City Police Commissioner, after which the Central Crime Branch registered a case and began an investigation.
Arrests in Ongole and Chennai
Police arrested Lion Muthuvel alias B.M. Chettiar, 48, of Villivakkam, and his associate Jagan alias Guruparan, 44, of Ambattur, in Ongole in Andhra Pradesh. The third accused, Thirukumaran, 51, of Padi Kuppam, was arrested in Chennai.
During the investigation, police said they found that the gang had allegedly cheated members of the public of more than ₹100 crore — yaani over ₹1 billion — by promising to arrange loans. Several cases against the accused are pending at various police stations and investigating agencies, including the Chennai Central Crime Branch, the CB-CID, the Dharmapuri district police and the Kerala Police, according to the reports.
Three men arrested by Chennai CCB. One complainant allegedly paid ₹2 crore as an advance for a loan that never came. Police say the alleged cheating totals more than ₹100 crore. All allegations are yet to be tested in court.
The allegations against the three men remain allegations at this stage and are subject to the investigation and court proceedings.