CHENNAI: A 37-year-old man lost Rs 88 lakh to an online investment scam orchestrated by his own friend. The Muthialpet police have arrested the accused and launched a search to nab two women involved in the case.
According to police, the victim J Robert Kim is employed as a manager in a private bank. In 2023, Robert’s friend V Rajasekar (28), the accused, kept pestering him to invest in a finance company run by his ‘friend’ Dhinakaran.
In February 2023, Robert transferred Rs 4 lakh and a few months later, Rajasekar returned the amount with one lakh profit, police said. Rajasekar then forced Robert to invest more and he transferred a total of Rs 88 lakh in several installments to accounts of Rajasekar and his friend Pavithra, police said. However, this time Rajasekar did not return with profits.
Robert then lodged a police complaint based on which Rajasekar was arrested on Friday. Initial inquiry revealed that there was no person called Dhinakaran nor a finance company, police said. Rajasekar, his mother Indira and his friend Pavithra had been allegedly cheating Robert. A search is on to nab Indira and Pavithra, police said.