The Chennai city police on Wednesday morning brought Sukesh Chandrasekar (23), boyfriend of actor Leena Maria Paul, from Delhi.
Sukesh and Leena Maria (25) fled with over Rs. 12 crore after cheating a businessman and a national bank earlier this year. He is suspected to have cheated close to 100 persons across the country of Rs. 50 crore or more by posing as a relative of leading politicians.
Following orders of Commissioner of Police S. George, a Central Crime Branch (CCB) team led by inspector K. Vijayakumar rushed to Delhi after the fraudster was arrested by the Delhi police in Kolkata on July 4.
Dubbed the biggest serial conman in recent times, Sukesh speaks eight languages including Tamil, Gujarati and Spanish, despite studying only till class X. His love for premium cars drove him to cheating and he used the money to buy models of Rolls Royce, Ferrari and Maserati.
“In 2010, he first contacted Leena via Facebook and she flew down to meet him in Chennai after he promised her roles in movies he would make. She later realised he was a fraud but stuck with him as she enjoyed the lavish lifestyle he offered,” said an investigating officer.
According to the police, Sukesh used the services of bodyguards and cars with beacons to convince his victims that he was a relative of politicians. He often installed CCTV cameras at his residences and wore designer clothes, perfumes. When the Delhi police arrested him in Kolkatta he was in possession of a Louis Vuitton handbag worth Rs. 3 lakh which contained cash, diamond jewellery and an electric toothbrush worth Rs. 12,000, police sources said.
In Chennai, Sukesh is wanted in four cases including the two registered by the CCB. He was earlier arrested for cheating in Coimbatore and Madurai. In Delhi, he was involved in two cases, in Kerala, one, and his involvement is suspected in cheating cases in Mumbai and Hyderabad.
Sukesh’s spate of crimes started in his hometown Bangalore, where he has committed a majority of them. “He has close to 15 FIRs against him and over 100 complaints filed by victims from whom he had extracted crores of rupees, stating false government contracts and other dealings,” the officer added.
On Wednesday afternoon, Sukesh was produced in Tambaram court, remanded to custody and sent to Puzhal prison where Leena Maria is lodged. He will be taken into police custody in a few days for questioning.
The city police will contact their counterparts in Bangalore to collect more information on the cases that Sukesh is involved in there, sources said.
