Ramanathapuram Bazaar police are examining the suspected role of three film producers in a cheating case involving multi-level marketing (MLM) operations.
Neethimani, main accused in the case in which investors have been allegedly duped of several crore of rupees, has told investigators that he lured people to invest in his finance compnay based on an idea given by the film producers. One of them heads a leading production house.
According to Neethimani's confession, the producers benefitted from the racket, Ramanathapuram Superintendent of Police V. Varun Kumar told The Hindu.
An estimated ₹7 crore collected from the public has been invested in production and distribution of films. “We have digital evidence of his conversation with the film producers,” he said.
Based on inputs and bank transactions, police will examine arraigning the producers in the case, he added.
Last month, Mr. Kumar directed local police to register a case on a complaint from Thulasi Manikandan, a resident of TNHB Colony. The complainant alleged that Neethimani, his wife Menaka of Chennai and Anand, a school teacher in Ramanathapuram, lured him to invest in their finance company.
Similar to an MLM, investors, including Mr. Manikandan, were asked to bring in other depositors for an incentive.
Many investors received returns for about six to nine months, but the three vanished after that. Neethimani was arrested last month.
Based on his confession, police widened the scope of investigation, which revealed that the key accused collected huge deposits from people in Madurai, Sivaganga, Coimbatore, Chennai and through their relatives and also from people from Singapore and Malaysia, which was around ₹12 crore.
The investors were either given a receipt for the money deposited or post-dated cheques in the name of the finance company. However, the company reneged on its commitment leading to the complaint.