Trichy teacher, VAO accused of cheating people of lakhs

Trichy: A block resource teacher (BRT) and village administrative officer (VAO), on Tuesday in Trichy district, were accused of running a micro-finance company and cheating people by getting lakhs of money from them.

Many victims were teachers in government schools and were lured by attractive returns for their investment with the company but they later escaped with their money, sources said.

At least 10 people approached the district collector on Tuesday and sought action against the duo for cheating them through ‘Make Yourself’ micro-finance company.

One among the victim, M Vairaperumal, 40 from Melapatti in Karur district whose wife is working as a teacher in a government school in Trichy, said that the company was being run by Sivanesan, who is working as BRT in Andanallur and Selvaraj, a VAO.

“I was asked by Sivanesan to give Rs 1 lakh and assured Rs 500 as returns on a daily basis except for weekends and government holidays. Further he assured to return Rs 1 lakh after a year,” said Vairaperumal.

Believing him, I had deposited Rs 47 lakh. However, for the last four months, there has been no communication with him. While we traced his contacts a few days back and spoke to him, now he is refusing to have taken money from me, said Vairaperumal. The district collector S Sivarasu asked them to approach the superintendent of police, Trichy and lodge a complaint. Sivanesan and Selvaraj could not be reached even after repeated attempts over phone.