The Kerala Police on Friday arrested Malayalam film actress Dhanya Varghese, husband John Jacob and his brother Samuel Jacob in connection with a Rs 130 crore cheating case by a Thiruvananthapuram-based company promoted by her father-in-law.
Dhanya, John, managing director of Samson and Sons Builders and Developers, and his brother were taken into custody by the Thiruvananthapuram Police on Friday morning from Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu on the basis of complaints received from scores of persons who had invested in apartments and villas promised by the company, the police said.
Dhanya was the director of the company in charge of sales, according to the police. Her father-in-law Jacob Samson, chairman of the company had been arrested earlier, they said. It is said that they had collected amounts ranging from Rs 40 lakh to Rs 1 crore from scores of persons since 2011 promising to deliver newly constructed luxury flats and villas by 2014.
The real estate company had taken up several major projects in the heart of Thiruvananthapuram city promising to deliver 500 flats and 20 villas. The directors of the company had allegedly collected over Rs 100 crore as advance payment for booking from several persons including NRIs. They had also allegedly collected Rs 30 crore as deposits promising high interest.
However, the company failed to complete the projects and deliver the flats and villages by the promised time, sources said, adding that this prompted several of those who had invested money to lodge complaints with the police. According to sources, the police had received more than 80 complaints against the company.
Following Jacob Samson’s arrest, his sons reportedly went into hiding and the police launched a search for them. At the same time, the police had also been probing the allegation that John, himself an actor, and their company had been using the celebrity status of Dhanya for luring investors.