Kerala Man Scams People of ₹20 Crore with Fake Half-Price Scooter Scheme

Kerala Man Scams People of ₹20 Crore: A 26-year-old man was arrested in Kochi, Kerala, for allegedly defrauding people across the state of several crores of rupees in their buying scooters, home appliances, and other electronics at half price.

Since 2022, Krishnan promised two-wheelers, sewing machines, etc., at half price with the help of CSR funds of big companies," a senior police officer in Muvattupuzha said to news agency PTI.

Krishnan has cheating and criminal breach of trust cases filed against him in different districts of Muvattupuzha and Idukki. The present one is a newer case just registered against Krishnan and six others, including Congress leader Lali Vincent in Kannur for the same offences.

The case filed is based on complaints numbering over 400 received by the police regarding transactions processed by the NGO Sardar Patel Institute of Advanced Research and Developmental Studies (SPIARDS) with Vincent named as a legal advisor.

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‘Like a son’ to Congress' Lali Vincent

The Congress leader spoke for Krishnan at a press conference in Kochi, adding that he was not someone to commit such a fraud. "He is like a son to me," she added.

Vincent went on to say that it was Krishnan who was made a scapegoat in this case because the people who were supposed to bring whom CSR funds backed off. "In desperation, he did some things," she said. Krishnan has given two-wheelers, sewing machines, and various appliances to several families.

Vincent stated that she acted as a legal advisor and lawyer for SPIARDS and Krishnan and she has made various agreements for them for which she said they paid her legal fees.

The police complaint, however, stated that no scooters were given as promised, according to the PTI report.

Dozens of members of the Seed Society, most of whom are women, were gathered outside the Kannur police station, accusing their secretary of cheating them and demanding action against him.

"We deposited the money seeing some of our people getting laptops, sewing machine, water tanks, water purifiers, food kits, etc., at half the price," they told a TV channel.

Krishnan's modus operandi

Ananthu Krishnan's modus operandi, as explained by a senior police official, was that the accused had formed a society called 'Muvattupuzha Socio-Economic Development Society' and persuaded its members to make deposits into a consultancy he had opened under the pretext that he could supply them with two-wheeler bikes at half-price.

According to reports, the accused had also formed several consultancies under his name and conducted transactions through them.

He had already made people believe he was the national coordinator of the National NGO Federation, given the charge of managing CSR funds of several companies across India, police officials said.

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Krishnan had also formed such societies in every block of the state and collected money through 62 seed societies," concluded the officer, adding, "It was investigated that nearly ₹9 crores were defrauded from Muvattupuzha in this manner."

Going by the cases registered against Krishnan in Muvattupuzha and Idukki, the accused, in fact, has swindled people in excess of ₹20 crores.

The police officer remarked that the amount of swindled money is expected to increase.

They were also looking into the involvement of some political leaders in this scam.

Certain noteworthy factors reveal that some companies were not aware that Krishnan was defrauding people under the pretext of CSR funds. In an inquiry, the accused supposedly disclosed that he had yet to receive any CSR funds from any company.

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