Chennai: Man posing as lawyer cons family of Rs 35 lakh; aide held

CHENNAI: In a desperate attempt to evict a tenant who has not paid rent for several months, a family from Porur fell into the trap of a conman who claimed to be a lawyer and ended up losing Rs 35 lakhs to him in two months.

The conman convinced the family that the tenant had filed multiple court petitions and lodged complaints, including one under the Pocso Act, against them.

According to SRMC police, the victim Sivakumar, and his family lived in Porur. For the past three years, they had rented out the ground floor to a person named Venkatesan who had defaulted on paying the rent.

Sivakumar, who used to travel to Dubai for work, was introduced to the prime suspect Venkatacharya through an acquaintance.

Probe revealed that Venkatacharya told Sivakumar that the tenant had filed several civil and criminal cases against his family and demanded Rs 4 lakhs to 'handle' the issue.

Sivakumar paid the amount to his associate in Chennai. Later, Venkatacharya claimed that Venkatesan had filed a Pocso case alleging molestation of his minor daughter, and demanded several more lakhs which Sivakumar paid through another associate.

Recently, Venkatacharya demanded more money after which Sivakumar realised he was being taken for a ride and then filed a police complaint.

Investigations revealed that the tenant had never filed any civil or criminal cases in court and Sivakumar was duped.

Police have arrested an associate named Gnanasekar who received Rs 4 lakhs on behalf of Venkatacharya.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that there is no link between the tenant and Venkatacharya. Further investigations are on.