Teenager masquerading as Minister’s son held in Rs 11 million fraud

An eighteen-year-old college drop-out, who was masquerading as a Minister’s son and leading a high-life in Bangalore after cheating a senior citizen to the tune of Rs 11 million, was arrested by the police.

The arrested youth C Sukesh, who went around claiming to be not the son of Tamil Nadu’s Finance Minister, but also the right hand man of Karnataka Chief Minister’s son, approached a 77-year-old retired engineer Subramani after learning that the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) had withdrawn a housing plot allotted to him in the upmarket HSR layout of the City.

Sukesh managed to convince Subramani that he would be able to secure a No Objection Certificate (NoC) from the BDA and help him clear the hurdles. Sukesh, who had forged the letter heads of BDA officials, Ministers and police, gave the a fake NoC to Subramani in return for Rs 250,000.

Next, he told Subramani that an investor was keen to build an apartment on his land under a joint development project and extracted another Rs 11 million. Sukesh had even introduced his friend Rehman Shariff, 28, as a builder, and Faiz, 21, as Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Gowda.

With the booty collected from Subramani, Sukesh and his friends bought flashy cars, trendy watches, expensive cell phones and partied at elite hotels and pubs in Bangalore. On week-ends, he and his friends would fly to Mumbai to party.

Sukesh, who was fond of car racing and participated in drag meets, used to cruise around the City in a Nissan, bearing a beacon light, with his friends. He carried a fake letter issued by the police department that read that Sukesh was “permitted to drive in full throttle in the City”.

Sukesh had even taken a house on rent in Audugodi in Bangalore, to catch up with his friends, including girls. He had informed the landlord, a doctor, that his father was the Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu. Sukesh had been frequently spotted with a couple of good-looking girls and his friends.

But, his luck ran out when Subramani approached the Bangalore police after Sukesh began blackmailing him for more money.

After Subramani had paid a total of Rs 11.4 million to Sukesh, the elderly man questioned him about the start of construction on his plot. When Sukesh began giving confusion answers, Subramani went to the youth’s parents Chandrashekar, 57, and Mala, 48.

“But, they assured me not to worry and that my work would be done. I waited for some more time, but when Sukesh threatened me that would inform the Income Tax Department about the money in my account and get me prosecuted for having unaccounted money, I decided that enough was enough”, Subramani said.

The Bangalore police arrested not only Sukesh, but also his friends Rahman Shariff and Faiz, besides his father Chandrashekar and mother Mala.

The police recovered from them a BMW, Nissan, Toyota Corolla, Honda City, Honda Accord, a modified Maruti, over 12 high-end watches, six expensive cell phones, including one costing Rs 340,000, besides designer clothes and cash worth Rs 200,000. A 50’ LCD television set, gold ornaments and other valuables were also recovered from him.