Chennai: Woman among three held in chit fund, temple tour frauds

CHENNAI: City police have arrested three persons, including a woman, in separate cheating cases where the public was defrauded of several crores.

In the first case, the Central Crime Branch (CCB) arrested a man who ran a chit fund firm and swindled over Rs 2 crore from investors. The CCB’s TNPID (Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors) wing registered a case following a complaint from S Jayachandran (63), who had collected Rs 2.34 crore from relatives to invest in Sigaram and Sirpi Chits Pvt Ltd, run by S Ravi.

As the promised high returns failed to materialise, depositors demanded their money back. Ravi issued cheques that bounced, following which the victims filed a cheating complaint. CCB officials arrested Ravi in Puducherry on Wednesday.

In another case, Zam Bazaar police arrested a 58-year-old woman and her aide for collecting money from devotees, promising a devotional tour but defaulting later. The accused were identified as Swatheeswaran (38) of Ambattur and Selvi of Royapettah.

Police said that in one temple within Zam Bazaar police limits, the accused collected Rs 12.7 lakh from devotees, averaging Rs 35,000 each. Investigation revealed that they employed similar tactics in temples across Adyar, Ambattur, and other areas. The duo was remanded in judicial custody.