HYDERABAD: City socialite-turned-Tollywood producer, Shilpa Chowdary, and her husband Tella Krishna Shiva Prasad were arrested by Narsingi police on Saturday, in connection with a multi-crore fraud the couple unleashed over the last few years.
Under the guise of hosting kitty parties at their posh villa in Gandipet, Shilpa would gather the ‘creme de la creme’ of Hyderabad’s social circuit and lure them to invest huge sums. High returns at a fast rate were promised. The couple is also said to have cheated some Telugu film biggies, whom they met during one of the parties.
Two women, who were cheated to the tune of Rs 2 crore and Rs 1.05 crore respectively, lodged complaints with the Narsingi police station. Immediately after the arrest, the couple moved a bail petition in court, but it was dismissed. Further, the police also filed a custody petition, which the court would hear on Monday. The couple have been shifted to judicial remand.
Prima facie inquiries revealed that Shilpa diverted the amounts collected from her kitty party friends into real estate business and police are now in the process of tracking the money trail. They are also investigating if any others were part of the fraud investment racket.
V Shiva Kumar, CI of Narsingi police station, said, “The couple was arrested after a complaint by a woman that they had cheated her by collecting Rs 1.05 crore for setting up a real estate business office. Even after three years, Shilpa and her husband refused to return the victim’s money. In fact, when the victim questioned her, Shilpa threatened the victim and her family by sending bouncers to her house,” he said.
The victim has been acquainted with Shilpa for a decade and had been attending kitty parties hosted by the latter. In one of the parties, Shilpa proposed a real estate office set-up. Falling for Shilpa’s spiel that enormous profits lay in store, the victim lent Rs 1.05 crore.
Shilpa’s husband Shiva Prasad was arrested as he assisted her in cheating several people.Meanwhile, after the news of the couple’s arrest broke, several people lined up at neighbouring police stations in Cyberabad and in Hyderabad city limits, to complain against the couple.