Youth arrested for cheating children's home donor

On a complaint by the realtor, Ayyappan, Dinesh (26) was arrested and fake receipts were seized.

For representational purpose

CHENNAI: IT was a shock to a 34-year-old realtor, when he recently learnt that the money he had been contributing to a children's home for the past two and a half years was being swindled by a duo. While one has been arrested, a search is on for the other.

On a complaint by the realtor, Ayyappan, Dinesh (26) was arrested and fake receipts were seized. However, the prime suspect, Karthikeyan, is still at large.

Police said, Ayyappan had been contributing `1,500 for the last two and a half years to Dinesh, who claimed to be the collection boy of a children's home, Annai Anbalayaa Trust which serves deprived children.

“Recently, I had asked the staff who calls me every month from the home to fix an appointment to collect the cash, if I could talk to the founder. I wanted to contribute more and to check the necessities of the home. But the woman did not get back to me for more than a week. I became suspicious and searched on the internet for the founder's phone number and spoke to Sivakumar. It was only then I realised that the money was not reaching the home in Athipathu village in Minjur,” said Ayyappan.

“Two days later, I again received a call from the home asking when they could collect the money. Immediately, I alerted the local police and called the collection boy, Dinesh to come collect the money. Police caught him red handed,” he added.

“Karthikeyan had prepared fake receipts using the logo, license number, registration number. Only the address and the contact number were different in the fake receipt. Our children's home has been functioning for the past fifteen years and is recognised by the government. Now-a-days people come forward to contribute money to homes, but donors should ensure that the money is transferred online so that it reaches the home directly,” said founder of the home Sivakumar.

A case has been registered by Abiramapuram police and further investigations are on. "We are investigating on how many people have been cheated the same way and how many more people have been involved in the case," said a senior police officer.