Last Updated:
The police also said that the role of certain political leaders was also being investigated in connection with the fraud.
Police said the accused has been promising to provide the two-wheeler, home appliances, etc at half price using the CSR funds of big companies since 2022. (Representative image)
A 26-year-old man has been arrested for his alleged role in duping people across Kerala to the tune of several crores by promising them scooters, sewing machines, home appliances and laptops at half price, police here said on Wednesday.
According to a senior police officer in Muvattupuzha here, the accused — Anandu Krishnan — has been promising to provide the two-wheeler, home appliances, etc at half price using the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds of big companies since 2022.
Besides several cases of cheating and criminal breach of trust against him in Muvattupuzha and Idukki districts, a fresh one was registered against Krishnan and six others, including Congress leader Lali Vincent, in Kannur district for the same offences.
In Kannur, the case was registered on the basis of over 400 complaints received in connection with the transactions by NGO Sardar Patel Institute of Advanced Research and Developmental Studies (SPIARDS) where Vincent is a legal advisor.
Speaking to reporters here, the Congress leader defended Krishnan and said he was not someone who would commit such a fraud. “He is like a son to me,” she added.
Vincent claimed that Krishnan was made a scapegoat after those who promised to bring him CSR funds, backed away.
“In desperation, he did some things,” she said, adding that he had provided two-wheelers, sewing machines, etc to scores of families.
She also said that she acted as legal advisor and lawyer for SPIARDS and Krishnan and even drafted many of their agreements for which she was paid legal fees.
The FIR was registered on the complaint by the secretary of the Kannur Seed Society who has claimed that SPIARDS members promised the society to provide scooters at half price and convinced them to deposit around Rs 2.96 crore in the NGO’s account.
However, none of the promised scooters were provided, the complaint said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of members, mostly women, of the Seed Society approached the Kannur Town police station accusing the society’s secretary of cheating them and demanding action against him.
They told a TV channel that they deposited money because some of the people they know got laptops, sewing machines, water tanks, water purifiers, food kits, etc at half price.
Earlier in the day, a police officer in Muvattupuzha, giving details of Krishnan’s modus operandi, said that the accused had formed a society called Muvattupuzha Socio-Economic Development Society and urged its members to deposit money in a consultancy he had set up, saying that he could provide them two-wheelers at half price.
He had created various consultancies in his own name and conducted the transactions through them.
The accused convinced people that he was the national coordinator of the National NGO Federation and that he had been entrusted with the responsibility of managing the CSR funds of various companies in India, the police said.
“Investigation revealed that around Rs nine crore was defrauded from Muvattupuzha in this way,” the officer said.
He further said that the accused set up such societies in every block of the state and collected money through 62 “seed societies”.
The officer said that based on cases registered against the accused in Muvattupuzha and Idukki districts, he had defrauded people for over Rs 20 crore.
Complaints have been received against him across the state and the swindled amount is expected to rise, the officer said.
The police also said that the role of certain political leaders was also being investigated in connection with the fraud.
Many companies were not even aware that the accused was carrying out the fraud by promising CSR funds from them, they added.
It is also said that the accused, during an interrogation, admitted that he had not received any CSR funds from any company so far.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)
- Location :
Kochi [Cochin], India, India
