Real estate broker held for cheating public of Rs 3 crore in Chennai

CHENNAI: The city police’s Central Crime Branch (CCB) has arrested a real estate broker from Neelankarai who defrauded more than 46 people of close to Rs 3 crore by giving them bogus lease agreements for rental properties.

The suspect was identified as Nigamath Nisha (52), who ran a real estate firm in the name of June Homes in Neelankarai.

She was arrested based on a complaint from S Tharuman of Neelankarai, who alleged that he had contacted June Homes to find a house for rent in Neelankarai. Nisha had said that the ground floor of a house where she lived was vacant and negotiated a contract amount of Rs 7 lakh with him and signed an agreement for it.

However, when Tharuman asked for the time to move into the house, she kept dodging him and when he asked for his money back, she showed a rented house in another area in Neelankarai and asked him to move there. To this, Tharuman asked her to cancel the initial lease agreement and return the money and sign a fresh rental agreement.

Nisha switched off her phone and went into hiding, after which he filed a complaint. Investigations revealed that Nisha used the same modus operandi and had cheated up to 46 people.

After investigations, police arrested Nisha, produced her before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.