After half-price scam, iridium and 'dead money' scam surfaces in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: Close on the heels of the half-price scam that rocked Kerala, a central Kerala based racket was suspected to have siphoned off huge amounts from many persons by offering attractive returns from iridium deposits and unclaimed bank deposits.

The racket based in Thrissur district is suspected to have duped persons from nearby districts too. One case was registered at the Irinjalakuda police station in this connection.

The key suspects are identified as Hariswami, Jisha and Praseetha. Many NRIs and prominent persons were also learnt to be among those who were victimized by the racket and many were learnt to be keeping off from lodging police petitions owing to embarrassment.

According to the police, so for only one complaint was received and a case registered. The complainant alleged that the racket collected around Rs. 30,000 from him over the last few years on the pretext for investment of iridium mining and offered huge returns.

Some of the victims told local media that the racket also collected funds by making them believe that the money would be used for releasing unclaimed funds in banks and also assured huge returns. Lakhs of rupees were collected from some NRIs in Thrissur on the pretext of getting the 'dead money' released.

Kerala was recently rocked by the half-price scam that involved a racket siphoning off around Rs 350 crore from thousands of persons by offering two-wheelers and home appliances at half price using CSR funds of companies. A total of 1,343 cases were registered and the key accused include a known charity worker Ananda Kumar.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in the Assembly the other day that it was unfortunate that the people were falling to such unrealistic offers.