KOCHI: Monson played it smart by attempting to ensure that no trail of money was left in his name while duping people of crores of rupees. According to persons close to Monson, not much money was transferred to his bank account. He got most of it transferred to his accomplices’ accounts, including those of his makeup man Joshy, former driver Ajith Nettoor, and two other employees, Jaison and Jishnu. Monson managed the accounts of these persons. When someone enquired, he would say RBI has frozen his savings bank account.
Pala native Rajeev, who had lodged a complaint against Monson relating to the violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, said that he was cheated of around `2 crore citing fake documents of HSBC savings bank account and a FEMA tribunal order. Monson had offered Rajeev a business partnership once RBI releases his frozen money.
“A sum of `1.67 crore transferred to the accounts of Joshy, Jaison, Jishnu and Ajith, all said to be Monson’s accomplices, as directed by Monson. Some amount was handed over directly to him,” he said.
Following his complaint, the Crime Branch registered a financial fraud case against Monson and launched an inquiry. The investigation officers on Wednesday collected Rajeev’s statements at the Crime Branch office in Kochi.
Shaji Cherayil, the manager of Sreevalsam Group chairman who lost a sum of `6.27 crore, said they too transferred an amount of `1.4 crore to makeup artist Joshy’s account. “However, we made a majority of the transactions directly to Monson’s bank account. That was how the Crime Branch Pathanamthitta unit unearthed his fraud,” Shaji said. For the Sreevalsam Group, an interest-free loan was offered rather than business partnership, he added.