KOCHI: On Thursday,
Ernakulam central police
arrested a 39-year-old man who had swindled Rs 1.39 crore from his boss by promising to arrange
dealerships
of
BMW
and
Audi
cars in Kochi. Juby Mathew, a native of Elappara village in Idukki, was arrested from his luxury flat at Edachira near Kakkanad. The accused were produced before the magistrate and remanded in police custody for further investigation.
The police said that Juby and first accused Prakash Nair of Sasthamangalam were working as manager and general manager for a businessman in Kochi. The businessman had entrusted the duo to take care of procedures to own a
luxury car
dealership that he has been trying to secure. Both accused were given a salary above Rs 50,000 and other facilities like vehicles.
“The accused persons conspired and made the businessman deposit Rs 1.39 crore in different accounts in the guise of formalities involved in getting a car dealership. The amount was deposited to the accounts of relatives and friends of the accused in Delhi, Kolkata and Madhya Pradesh. The money was withdrawn by the accused persons and their wives. The amount was spent to lead a luxury life”, said SI A Ananthalal.
Police said the accused had created fake email ids in the name of BMW and Audi companies for the sake of communication with the businessman. The duo had also framed fake SMS and sent them to the account holder in Delhi. The fake SMSs were later sent to the businessman by the account holder in Delhi as confirmation messages from the luxury car companies.
“The businessman had purchased land for the construction of the dealership in Kochi that was visited by one Pradeep Pandey, a friend of the two accused who posed as dealer development manager of Audi. Pandey had come to the city as one Abhishek Arora from Audi. Pandey and wives of the two accused have also been named as accused in the case. We are tracing them,” said the police.
The fraud came to light when the businessman found that BMW dealership was granted to another person in Kochi. He later filed a complaint with city commissioner who ordered an investigation. Kadavanthra SI M Sajeev, Central SI Shyam, ASIs Joseph, Unnikrishnan, senior civil police officers Anilkumar, Shaji, Shameer and Manoj were part of the police team that arrested the Juby.
The police said that the investigation will be expanded to Delhi, Kolkata and Madhya Pradesh and more arrests are likely in the coming days.
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