According to the police, the youth from Thiruvananthapuram district, who had attended a flight stewards’ course before venturing into the money-chain business, had swindled Rs 500 crore from investors. The police have so far obtained a list of 700 depositors. He owned 18 cars, including a BMW, and had helped several hawala dealers and fake currency racketeers to launder their money. During his 20-month-long conning spree the youth rubbed shoulders with politicians and filmstars. Arrested by the Thiruvananthapuram police last week, Sabarinath is now under judicial custody.

Sabarinath’s growth to the stature of a con king began two years ago when he opened Nest Investment Solutions with the help of one Chandramathi, then employed as a general manager with a public sector firm here. Nest operated on a money-chain model and offered 25 to 30 per cent interest for deposits, that too within a month. To win the confidence of investors, Sabarinath kept his word in the initial months and paid investors the promised rate. That strategy paid off and Sabarinath became the money-making mantra for a new crop of investors in south Kerala.

As business grew, he appointed 70 deposit collectors, who managed to fetch hundreds of crores of rupees from investors. In the meantime, the young entrepreneur opened two more firms — I Nest and Total 4 U. When money from gullible investors flowed in, an ecstatic Sabarinath announced a Rs 1,500-crore tourism project, Total City, in a Thiruvananthapuram village.

The undoing of his business began when Sabarinath and Chandramathi fell out over his connections with another woman, employed in a leading private sector bank. The bank employee and her family were made partners in the Total City project. Unable to stomach Sabarinath’s growing business relations with the bank officer, Chandramathi took his pen drive and collected the details about the investors in the three companies.

Soon, Chandramathi flashed a message to major investors that Sabarinath’s business had hit a slippery slope. This forced many to withdraw their deposits. When investors came in flocks to retrieve their money, Sabarinath struggled to repay them as promised. His failure to repay depositors forced an investor to file a complaint with the police in the last week of August. That prised open the lid on the major scam and soon more investors came forward to file complaints against Sabarinath.

Police sources said the magnitude of the cheating was unfathomable as a lot of money collected through corrupt means by bureaucrats and politicians had been deposited in Sabarinath’s companies and investment plans.

“Many are unwilling to file police complaints as it would only damage their reputation. He had also invested crores of rupees in real estate. In many cases, deals had been struck after paying just the advance amounts. Sabarinath will not be able to claim the amounts in the present scenario. Whatever happens, it will be the ordinary investors who are left bleeding,” police sources said.

A swindler’s CV

SABARINATH

Age: 21

Education: Completed a flight stewards’ course

Companies: Nest Investment Solutions, I Nest and Total 4 U. Collected Rs 500 crore from investors

Future plans: Rs 1,500-crore tourism project, Total City, in Thiruvananthapuram district

Assets: Owned 18 cars, including a BMW. Several houses in posh localities