Mumbai: Police Arrest Main Accused Involved in Fake ₹150 Crore Loan Promise

The Powai police have arrested Rajshekhar Subbiah, also known as S K Tevar or Rajan, the main suspect in a fraud case involving an electronics businessman who was swindled out of nearly Rs 2 crore under the pretense of securing a Rs 150 crore loan. Following his arrest, Rajan was remanded to police custody by the court. Earlier, the police had arrested three individuals in connection with the same case and had filed charges against them. These individuals were A Sethuraj (alias Sethuraj Asiavadam), M Thomas (alias Thomas Madura), and Shanmugasundaram A (alias Shanmugasundaram Andiyappan). Rajshekhar Subbiah was named as a wanted suspect in the charge sheet but had fled immediately after the case was registered. The police finally managed to arrest him after a year and a half.

According to the police, the complainant, Rakesh Devendrakumar Dugar, lives in the Hiranandani Gardens area of Powai and runs an electronics business. His company’s office is located on LBS Road, Bhaveshwar Arcade, Ghatkopar. Dugar has been in this business for the past twenty years.

Dugar wanted to expand his business and needed a financial loan of Rs 100 to 150 crore. He already had some existing bank loans and planned to repay those and invest the remaining amount in his business. During this period, his friends introduced him to Suresh Naidu from Navi Mumbai, who claimed that a person named Sundar, with the help of Subramaniam, could secure the loan for him.

Dugar subsequently had a phone conversation with Subramaniam, who is from Tamil Nadu. Subramaniam requested the balance sheet of Dugar’s company and assured him that his associates, Thomas and Rajan, could arrange the loan. Dugar remained in constant contact with Subramaniam during this time. In April 2021, Dugar traveled to Tamil Nadu with his friends. There, he was introduced to Sundar and Thomas’s son, Ajit. They took him to a hotel for dinner and arranged for his stay at the same hotel. Later, Sundar, Subramaniam, Thomas, and Ajit took him to Rajan’s guest house in Karaikudi. After introducing Dugar to Rajan, they discussed the loan in detail. After reviewing the company’s documents, Rajan assured Dugar of a Rs 150 crore loan but said that Dugar needed to pay a 2% registration fee, amounting to Rs 3 crore, to the Kerala government.

Since the registration fee had to be deposited with the Kerala government, Dugar agreed to their demand. Within a few days, he deposited Rs 3 crore into the bank account of the concerned parties. On April 22, 2021, an agreement was to be signed, so Dugar traveled to Trivandrum with all his documents.

After depositing the Rs 3 crore, the accused showed Dugar six demand drafts (DDs) worth Rs 25 crore each, but the accused neither deposited the DDs in the bank nor handed them over to him within the agreed time. When questioned, they tried to delay with various excuses. When the accused began evading him, Dugar became suspicious and demanded the return of the Rs 3 crore given in exchange for the Rs 150 crore loan. However, the accused did not return the money. Dugar then informed his friend in Tamil Nadu about the incident. With his friend’s intervention, the accused returned Rs 1 crore but defrauded him of the remaining Rs 2 crore.

Since there was no likelihood of recovering this amount from the accused, Rakesh Dugar filed a complaint with the Powai police against the concerned parties. After investigating the complaint, the police registered a case against eight individuals—Suresh alias Nityanand Naidu, Sundar, Thomas, his son Ajit, Subramaniam, Rajendran Chandran, Rajan, and A Sethuraj—for defrauding Rs 2 crore using fake contract documents.

As soon as the case was registered, the police began searching for the absconding accused. On February 10, 2024, during this search operation, the police arrested three individuals—M Thomas, A Sethuraj, and Shanmugasundaram. Subsequently, charge sheets were filed against them for the same crimes. Five other suspects were listed as wanted in the charge sheets. After a year and a half of searching, the Powai police have now arrested Rajshekhar alias Rajan, who was wanted for these crimes.