On Tuesday (13th August), the Crime Branch probing the investment fraud worth Rs 17 crores arrested KPCC Secretary C S Srinivasan. The Kerala Congress leader is the Managing Director of the financial firm which is embroiled in an investment fraud case. Srinivasan is also the former Chairman of the Standing Committee of Thrissur Corporation.
The KPCC District Secretary was arrested from Kalady on charges of defrauding people who invested in his finance company headquartered in Thrissur’s Punkunnam.
In the complaint, the investors said that they were lured into depositing huge sums of money in Heewan Nidhi Limited and Heewan Finance with a promise that their returns will be doubled in five years. According to them, the company committed a fraud to the tune of Rs 17 crores as it did not return their money.
They said that they invested lakhs of rupees in Heewan Finance and Heewan Nidhi Company by trusting the political and social involvement of Congress leader CS Srinivasan and Sundar Menon.
However, the company failed to return either the principal amount, or the promised interest. The investors further stated that the company even refused to return money to those investors suffering from serious illnesses.
According to the Police, the company amassed investments in violation of RBI guidelines.
Earlier this month, on 4th August, the Thrissur Crime Branch arrested Heewan Chairman Sundar Menon in connection with this investment fraud case. Menon is a prominent businessman, Padma Shri winner, and the president of Thiruvampadi Devaswom.
According to reports, the Congress leader Sreenivasan remained in hiding after filing for anticipatory bail but he was arrested by the district crime branch from Kalady.
The Thrissur West police have registered 18 cases overall. At various stages, around 300 investors had filed complaints against the firm and a petition was also filed in the High Court.
As per reports, the Police will also initiate measures like confiscation of assets of the Heewan company and its owners.
