The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Five-member gang held on cheating charge

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 19, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Five-member gang held on cheating charge

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, JULY 18. A five-member gang that sought to cheat a person from Gujarat, promising him of getting foreign donations of Rs.11,000 crores, was arrested by the Anna Salai police on Sunday.

According to the police, the gang approached Noel Peter, who heads a trust at Valsad in Gujarat. The gang members reportedly told him that they would be able to help him in getting donations from abroad to the extent of Rs 11,000 crores.

John Mathai of Kerala with his two associates, Sajjal Sen of Kolkatta and K.R.S. Mani of Coimbatore asked Mr Peter to accompany them to Chennai with an assurance of arranging a meeting with the donor. They, however, imposed a condition that 60 per cent of the donation money be given to them as `commission'.

Believing them, Mr Peter booked a room in a luxury hotel in the city for the three and paid for their stay.

As per `their agreement', the gang received post-dated cheques for Rs 5,081crores from Mr Peter.

Even after a week passed by, the gang neither paid cash nor showed the donor. So, Mr. Peter demanded that they either show the donor or arrange for the payment.

The gang members asked another associate Thajudeen of Royapettah to take Mr Peter to the donor.

The former took him up to a point and handed him over to Mohammed Hussain, another member of the gang.

Hussain, instead of taking Mr Peter to the donor, brought him back to the hotel, stating that he could meet the donor. Mr. Peter realised that he was duped by the gang and informed the Anna Salai police. Immediately, a team of police personnel went to the hotel and arrested the members.

The police said Mr. Peter spent nearly Rs 12 lakhs on the gang members, thinking that he would get nearly Rs 6,000 crores after paying commission.

The police recovered all the post-dated cheques from them.

C. Sylendra Babu, Joint Commissioner of Police (North), who is also in-charge of the Central Chennai said, Mathai, Mani and Sen had been arrested earlier for cheating Suresh Thakre, a businessman from Gujarat in March this year. They were out on bail and attempted to commit another one, he added.

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