The Cantonment police on Sunday arrested Jose Kurian Thomas, 45, of Anakkal in Kanjirapally on charges of fleecing over Rs.2 crore from nearly 300 people on the pretext of handsome returns from a self-employment scheme under the aegis of an organisation called Kerala People’s Forum.
According to the police, Thomas was arrested after a raid at his Thycaud office. The accused, the police said, had given advertisements in leading vernacular dailies, inviting promoters and executives for schemes of the forum, which included sales of Neera, a value-added coconut product, and organic vegetables. The offer for promoters was that they could invest Rs.40,000, after which they would be given a car, which they could use for sale of the products and for which they were assured a monthly payment of Rs.20,000, with the car to become theirs in five years.
He allegedly held seminars across the State, appointed unemployed youngsters as executives and promoters and thus fleeced over Rs.2 crore from over 300 people. The police are on the hunt for others who allegedly colluded with Thomas for the fraud.
