The city police have arrested three persons, including an actor, in connection with an estimated Rs.130 crore advance fee fraud.
They named the accused as actor Dhanya Mary Varghese, John Jacob, and Samuel Jacob.
The police case against them was that they had floated a real estate company, Samson and Sons Builders and Developers Private Limited, with the intention of defrauding home aspirants of huge sums of money by promising them new flats in exchange for a large advance payment.
In the past two years, the firm announced projects, including villas, gated communities, and high-rise apartments in premium localities in various urban areas in the State.
The police said the accused also persuaded some persons to invest more than Rs.30 crore in their real estate business. The firm could complete its ambitious projects only partly. Some never took off. The directors of the firms soon became incommunicado and absconded.
The police said they were arrested from Tamil Nadu. They were produced before the court on the charge of conspiracy, cheating and fraud, and remanded to judicial custody for a period of 14 days.
