Couple Arrested in Coimbatore for Iridium Export Scam

A couple from Kerala was arrested in Coimbatore for defrauding a Chennai resident of Rs. 25 lakhs through a fake iridium export scheme. The police recovered cash and gold jewelry from the accused.


Coimbatore: The Coimbatore District Crime Branch has arrested a couple for orchestrating an elaborate scam involving the alleged export of iridium, a rare and valuable metal. The accused, Shyam alias Joy Mohan (44) and his wife Sajitha (38), both hailing from Kerala, were apprehended on July 31 for defrauding a Chennai-based businessman of Rs. 25 lakhs.

The victim, Srinivasan from Ennore, Chennai, was introduced to Shyam through a mutual acquaintance, Andro Wilson from Kanyakumari district. Shyam and Sajitha convinced Srinivasan that they possessed valuable iridium, which could be sold abroad for enormous profits. To lend credibility to their claim, they introduced Srinivasan to a person named Y.G. Sekar, who they claimed was a scientific expert capable of testing the iridium.



The couple, along with Sekar, initially extracted Rs. 10 lakhs from Srinivasan under the pretext of conducting tests on the iridium. Subsequently, they introduced four more individuals - Varun Prasad Reddy, Ravindra Prasad, Arun Kumar, and Ananda Venkatesan - who posed as employees of a foreign company. These accomplices claimed that the tested iridium was genuine and could be sold to their company abroad for several crores of rupees. They managed to swindle an additional Rs. 15 lakhs from Srinivasan as an advance payment for the purported deal.

When Srinivasan failed to receive any further communication from the group, he grew suspicious and realized he had been duped. He then filed a complaint with Coimbatore District Superintendent of Police Badri Narayanan, leading to the registration of a case with the District Crime Branch.

Following an intensive investigation, the police arrested Shyam and Sajitha. The authorities recovered Rs. 4,99,000 in cash and 77 grams of gold jewelry from the accused. The couple was produced before a local court and remanded to judicial custody.

The Coimbatore police are continuing their investigation to apprehend the other individuals involved in this elaborate scam.

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