The Central Crime Branch (CCB) police have arrested a couple, M Rekha (38) and her husband N Manjunathachari (40), along with their associate, Chetan Kumar (35), for allegedly duping a realtor out of nearly Rs6 crore. The trio lured the victim with the promise of a share from a supposed Rs25 crore payout they claimed to be receiving.
According to police, Rekha and her husband are already facing multiple charges in at least 10 criminal cases involving cheating and cheque bounce incidents. The complaint was filed by Nisar Ahmed, a city-based realtor, who became the latest victim of their scheme.
In her fraudulent story, Rekha befriended Ahmed last year, claiming that she and her husband were key eyewitnesses to the deadly Carlton Tower fire in 2010, which killed nine people and injured over 70. She told Ahmed that officials from Carlton Tower were offering her Rs25 crore as compensation for not testifying in court about the incident. To back up her claim, she said that Rs6 crore had been transferred to her account but had been frozen by Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate authorities.
Rekha then convinced Ahmed to help her release the frozen funds by lending her Rs6 crore. Trusting her, Ahmed transferred Rs5.7 crore, but later discovered that he had been deceived. Upon further investigation, he found that Rekha and her husband were involved in multiple criminal cases.
As the police closed in, Rekha attempted to hide in a paying guest accommodation in Hoskote. She was arrested there, and following her information, her husband Manjunathachari and associate Chetan Kumar were also taken into custody.
In a twist, it was revealed that Rekha had previously used the name of a former MLA to further manipulate her victims. The fraud was exposed when Ahmed approached the management of Carlton Towers to verify Rekha’s claims. When the management confirmed that her story was false, Ahmed filed a police complaint.