Actor Leena Maria Paul held in Rs 20 cr fraud,M Karunanidhi ‘grandson’ on the run
Leena Maria Paul held,Balaji fled after taking a loan of Rs 19 cr from Canara Bank in Chennai.
Leena Maria Paul held,Balaji alias Sekar Reddy,M Karunanidhi’s ‘grandson’,flees after taking a loan of Rs 19 cr from Canara Bank in Chennai.
Living in Chennai,he introduced himself as an IAS officer. Dressed in formals,he travelled in a car with a red beacon responding to salutes at every intersection. He flaunted his qualifications and strong financial background,and lured many investors to put money in his projects,got loans sanctioned worth Rs 19 crore and later decamped with all the money.
Balaji alias Sekar Reddy also introduced himself as the grandson of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi,to many. Police sources revealed that Balaji,posing as a close friend of Nikhil Gowda (former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s son),also cheated his landlord in Bangalore of more than Rs 1 crore. He also posed as the son of several ministers,including T R Baalu and Karunakara Reddy,on several occasions.
His close aide and live-in partner Leena Maria Paul,a 25-year-old actress,always assisted him.
The couple — owners of a fleet of luxury cars including Rolls Royce Phantom,an Aston Martin,BMW 530 D,Range Rover,Audi A4 and others — managed to dupe several people until one of them was tracked by police.
And when police closed in on Balaji,who managed to evade arrest,Paul was busy shopping for her next party.
She was later arrested from Ambience Mall in Vasant Kunj,where she was with six bouncers.
In a joint raid,Central Crime Branch,Chennai Police and Delhi Police,also arrested Paul for allegedly cheating people of Rs 76 lakh on the pretext of getting them government contracts and supply orders.
Paul has worked for Tamil,Hindi and Malyalam films such as Madras Cafe,Cobra,Red Chillies and Husbands in Goa.
“We received information that the couple is in Delhi and are residing in Fatehpur Beri. On the basis of vehicle numbers and criminal intelligence,their location was traced. While we were able to arrest the actress,Balaji managed to escape. The couple is wanted in two major cheating cases in Chennai,” B S Jaiswal,DCP (South),said.
According to police,the couple came to Delhi a month ago. Twenty days ago,they shifted to the Fatehpur Beri farmhouse,which they took on a rent of Rs 4 lakh per month.
Police said Balaji,who was impersonating an IAS officer,got a loan of Rs 19 crore approved from Canara Bank in Chennai. He then decamped with the cash,police said.
“The couple was living at the Fatehpur Beri house with a fleet of luxury cars and bouncers. We have also recovered 81 luxury watches from their possession. It is still to be ascertained if the cars were stolen or bought,” police said.
Share
