Kochi | A cheating case has been registered against Biju Radhakrishnan, a prime accused in the solar scam that rocked the UDF government in 2013, police said here on Monday.
The scam pertains to several people allegedly being cheated after investing in green energy projects promoted by Radhakrishnan and his close associate, Saritha S Nair.
According to police, the fresh case was registered at the Kadavanthra police station on January 31 following a direction from a magistrate's court.
The complaint alleges that a Nilambur native was cheated on the promise of arranging Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds under the guise of charitable work.
The case has been registered against Nisha Peter, Berlin and Venugopal, besides Radhakrishnan.
Police said the allegation against Radhakrishnan is that he was running a firm named NGO Help Foundation at Kakkanad.
As per the FIR, Radhakrishnan befriended the complainant in 2021 by claiming that he was a senior lawyer practising in the Supreme Court and that Nisha Peter was his wife and also a law practitioner.
Claiming that they worked as CSR consultants capable of arranging funds, the accused allegedly persuaded the complainant to start a charitable trust, the FIR said.
The complainant alleged that Rs 20 lakh was taken as CSR fund processing charges, along with Rs 7 lakh for purchasing an ambulance and Rs 2 lakh towards documentation expenses.
When he later demanded the return of the money, the accused allegedly threatened to implicate him in a rape case, the FIR said.
Police officials said that since transaction details were not initially available with the complaint, an FIR was not registered at first, following which the complainant approached the court.
Acting on the court’s direction, police registered the case and began an investigation.
Police said efforts are on to track the financial transactions involved, and the accused will be questioned at a later stage.
