NEW DELHI: The Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police has arrested Tamil film actor Srinivasan from Chennai, alias Powerstar, for allegedly duping a company of Rs 5 crore on the pretext of arranging a Rs 1,000 crore loan, officials said on Wednesday.
In December 2010, the complainant company, Blue Coast Infrastructure Development Ltd., was approached by Henry Lalremsanga, Deepak Banga, Anil Varshney, and Ramanuja Muvvala, who presented themselves as consultants capable of arranging a loan of Rs 1,000 crore for hotel and corporate investment purposes.
They assured that in case of failure, they would refund any amount paid upfront within 30 days. They introduced the complainant to S Srinivasan, who claimed to be the proprietor of Baba Trading Company and a long-time lender capable of arranging the Rs 1,000 crore loan.
Under the agreement, the complainant paid Rs 5 crore first. However, neither the loan was arranged nor Rs 5 crore was returned, and the post-dated cheque given as a counter guarantee bounced due to insufficient balance.
“Rs 5 crore was transferred on December 27, 2010, to Srinivasan. He withdrew Rs 50 lakh in cash and transferred Rs 4.5 crore into a joint account. An FD of Rs 4 crore was made and seized,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (EOW) Ravi Kumar said.
Srinivasan was arrested and granted interim bail in 2013, with a commitment to repay Rs 10 crore in 15 days—of which he paid only Rs 3.5 lakh. He absconded and was declared a proclaimed offender (PO) in April 2016. He was again arrested in 2017 and granted bail, and once again he evaded trial.