KOCHI: Nearly a month after the city police arrested a mother-daughter duo for raising money through a crowdfunding campaign by misusing the picture and details of an ailing child admitted to a hospital in the city, the main accused in the case surrendered before the police on Wednesday. The accused, identified as Arun Joseph, is the son of Mariamma Sebastian, 59, who was arrested earlier.
Ever since the police nabbed Mariamma and her daughter Anitha T Joseph, 29, Arun had been absconding. Police say Arun masterminded the fraud and used his mother’s bank account to collect the money.
The fraud came to light when Rayamangalam native Manmadhan Praveen came across a crowdfunding campaign in a Facebook group seeking money for the treatment of a child. The picture used was of his daughter, who is admitted to the Amrita hospital here.
As charity worker Farook Cherpulassery had been managing a similar campaign for his daughter, Praveen initially thought this campaign was part of it. However, later he noticed that a different account number was mentioned on the campaign poster, and immediately lodged a complaint with the Cheranalloor police. A detailed probe was launched and the accused was arrested.