Tamil actor Srinivasan arrested by Delhi police EOW in high-value loan fraud case

NEW DELHI: Tamil film actor and self-styled doctor S Srinivasan, also known as ‘Powerstar’, was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing in the national capital in a high-value loan fraud case, according to officials. Srinivasan had promised to arrange a loan of Rs 1,000 crore for a firm, but cheated it of Rs 5 crore, officials said.

The police said that Srinivasan was declared by the court as a ‘Proclaimed Offender’ twice. He absconded from trial proceedings since 2018 and he was the mastermind of a largescale conspiracy to cheat the complainant company to the tune of Rs 5 crore on the pretext of arranging a Rs 1,000 crore loan.

Investigation revealed fraudulent diversion of funds for film production and personal use. The accused was found to be involved in six similar cheating cases in Chennai

The Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police traced Srinivasan to Chennai’s Vanagaram area, with the help of local intelligence and technical surveillance. On July 27, he was arrested from Chennai’s Golden Treasure Apartments, the Delhi Police said adding that he has been remanded to judicial custody.

According to Delhi Police, in December 2010, the complainant company Blue Coast Infrastructure Development Ltd. was approached by Henry Lalremsanga, Deepak Banga, Anil Varshney and Ramanuja Muvvala, who presented themselves as experienced consultants capable of securing a loan of Rs 1,000 crore for hotel and corporate investment purposes. They assured that in case the loan is not sanctioned, they would refund any upfront amount paid, within 30 days.

The consultants then arranged a meeting of the complainant with Srinivasan, who claimed to be the proprietor of Baba Trading Company and a long-time lender capable of arranging the Rs 1,000 crores loan. Following this, the complainant paid an upfront amount of Rs 5 crore, purportedly for purchasing special adhesive stamps (at 0.5 pc of the loan amount). However, no loan was arranged, nor were Rs 5 crore returned, and the post-dated cheque given as a counter guarantee was also dishonoured by the bank due to insufficient balance.

Investigation revealed that Rs 5 crore was transferred on 27.12.2010 to Baba Trading Co. from the complainant company, and then into bank accounts controlled by accused Srinivasan and his wife. He withdrew Rs 50 lakh in cash and transferred Rs 4.5 crore into a joint account. An FD of Rs 4 crore was later made and seized.

During the investigation, the accused Srinivasan was arrested and interrogated. He failed to produce any proof of purchasing adhesive stamps, showing a clear intent to cheat.

He was first granted interim bail on 27.09.2013, with a commitment to repay Rs 10 crore within 15 days, of which he paid only Rs 3.5 lakh. He absconded and was declared a Proclaimed Offender (PO) in April 2016. He was re-arrested on 07.03.2017, granted bail again on 02.06.2017, and once again evaded trial, leading to a second PO declaration on 14.11.2018.

The 64 year-old accused Srinivasan was also found involved in six other cases registered in Chennai with the same modus operandi. (ANI)