KOCHI: The police on Friday arrested a youth who embezzled crores of rupees by promising to provide scooters at half their price after forming welfare societies across Kerala.
The Muvattupuzha police had registered three cases against Anandu Krishnan, 26 - a resident of Kadayathoor, Thodupuzha, in Idukki district - after he collected over Rs 9 crore in that fashion.
According to the police, Anandu first formed the Muvattupuzha Socio-Economic Development Society. He took money from the members of the society, claiming that scooters were being purchased with CSR funding from various companies.
A police investigation revealed that Anandu formed 62 seed societies across the state and had been collecting money since 2022. He also created various bogus firms to make people believe that the societies were supported by various companies. The bank accounts of these bogus companies were handled by Anandu, the police found.
He also rolled out schemes for the purchase of home appliances, water tanks, fertilisers, laptops and sewing machines at cheap prices through these societies. The probe revealed that he supplied scooters to some people initially. He used the funds received to live a luxurious life.
The investigators contacted various companies to check whether they had given any CSR funds to societies formed by the accused, but they were unaware of any such society, a police officer said.
Anandu was arrested from Kacheripady.