Colourful con man wore gold to impress rich businessmen

Hari Nadar, arrested last week, would offer to lend hundreds of crores at low interest

Many fell prey to a colourful moneylender and politician from Tamil Nadu as he offered loans at low interest.

Late last week, the Central Crime Branch of the Bengaluru police arrested 39-year-old Hari Nadar alias Gopalkrishna Nadar of Tirunelveli after a Bengaluru businessman complained he had been cheated of Rs 7.2 crore. Hari also ran lending rackets in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, and Ranjit Panikkar, a resident of Kovalam, was his accomplice, according to the police.

Hari could have been a character out of a spoof: he never stepped out without draping himself in gold. He routinely wore jewellery worth Rs 4.2 crore, and put on a show of extreme affluence.

He had contested as an independent candidate in the recent Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, and lost.

“He wanted to give the impression that he was well-to-do and could lend huge amounts. He would approach large business houses and convince them that he could give them huge loans at just 6 per cent annual interest,” explains the officer.

Police find it hard to crack such cases as victims don’t come forward to complain. “There are two reasons: they deal in black, and they fear for their reputation,” a senior police officer told Metrolife.

Hari would allegedly blackmail and threaten his victims into silence.

“He told them he would kill them or bump off someone in their families,” the officer says.

His operations spanned all the southern states. He lent large sums---hundreds of crores---and always made sure to take property papers as collateral.

“Lenders like him work with agreements that say they can confiscate the property if the money is not repaid in time. They intentionally dodge payment so that they can get their hands on the property,” explains the officer.

The government is actively considering an amendment to the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Institutions Act, 2004, to ensure such lenders are monitored closely.

The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Scheme (BUDS) was passed in February 2019 to control informal money lending, the officer says.

The police recovered three kg gold, Rs 8 lakh in cash and an SUV from Nadar when they arrested him.

Bengaluru case

Hari’s operations in Bengaluru came to light when Venkataramana Shastri, a city businessman, filed a complaint with the Vidhana Soudha police station. Shastri accused Hari of cheating him of Rs 7.2 crore.

Hari allegedly handed him a forged demand draft for Rs 360 crore, said to be the loan the businessman had sought, and demanded Rs 7.2 crore as commission. “Shastri discovered that DD was fake. Hari threatened him with dire consequences when he demanded his money back,” says an investigator.