One of the main accused, Kanagaraj (25) of Ram Lakshmanan Nagar in Coimbatore had gone into hiding. A year later, he has now been arrested by the special team in Coimbatore on Saturday.
Coimbatore: Coimbatore police have arrested a man one year later in connection with a Rs. 5,000 crore scam involving a financial institution in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Gautam Ramesh (40) from R S Puram in Coimbatore led a group of 15 people to start a financial institution called 'Universal Trading Solution.' They reportedly issued attractive announcements saying that if one invested Rs. 25,000 a month, 10 percent interest would be given at the end of 10 months and that the investment amount would double.
Relying on the promise given by this company, people in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, businessmen and politicians deposited millions. In the first week of September 2020, a complaint was lodged with the then Deputy Commissioner of the Salem City Crime Division alleging that the company had defrauded 10 people, including Mahesh (34) from Salem for an amount of Rs. 4.80 crores.
Under his leadership, officers including the Assistant Commissioner of Criminal Division, Bhupathirajan investigated and arrested Gautam Ramesh and Ondipudur Praveen Kumar (30), the Head of the company in the same year. Another main accused, Kanagaraj (25) of Ram Lakshmanan Nagar in Coimbatore had gone into hiding. A year later, he has now been arrested by the special team in Coimbatore on Saturday. The Kerala State Police have arrived in Salem to interrogate him.
According to police officials, more than Rs. 1,200 crore has been swindled from 2,000 people in Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode, Salem, Namakkal and Karur districts. With the money gained here, the bogus company have reportedly set up more than 500 branches in the state of Kerala, collected up to Rs. 3,800 crores from 7,000 people and defrauded them without repaying a single amount. A total of Rs. 5,000 crore has been embezzled in both the states. The police of both states are investigating further.