Tamil actor 'Powerstar' held by Delhi Police over Rs 5 cr loan fraud

New Delhi: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police has arrested Tamil film actor and self-styled doctor S Srinivasan, popularly known as Powerstar, in connection with a Rs 5-crore loan fraud case, an officer said on Wednesday.

Srinivasan, who had been evading trial since 2018 and was declared a 'proclaimed offender' twice, was arrested from Chennai, the Delhi Police said in a statement.

According to the statement, the actor allegedly posed as a financier and duped a Delhi-based company of Rs 5 crore promising to secure for it a Rs 1,000 crore loan.

The money was later found to have been diverted for film production and personal use.

"The accused had been absconding for several years and was finally apprehended on July 27 from Vanagaram in Chennai. He has been remanded to judicial custody," Deputy Commissioner of Police (EOW) Ravi Kumar said.

According to the complaint, a private firm was allegedly cheated by a group of persons including Henry Lalremsanga, Deepak Banga, Anil Varshney, and Ramanuja Muvvala in 2010.

"These people claimed to be expert consultants capable of securing high-value funding for hotel and corporate infrastructure projects," said the DCP.

They introduced the complainant to S Srinivasan, who introduced himself as the proprietor of a trading company and claimed he could secure the company a Rs 1,000 crore loan.

As part of the deal, the complainant paid Srinivasan Rs 5 crore, ostensibly to purchase adhesive stamps (0.5 per cent of loan amount), a standard fee in such transactions.

However, no loan materialised, and a post-dated cheque of Rs 5 crore, issued as security by Srinivasan, bounced due to insufficient funds, police said.

During investigation, the officer said, police found that on December 27, 2010, a sum of Rs 5 crore was transferred to the account of the trading company and later moved to accounts controlled by Srinivasan and his wife.

Of this money, he withdrew Rs 50 lakh and transferred the remaining amount to a joint account, from which a fixed deposit of Rs 4 crore was created.

Officials said Srinivasan failed to provide any documentation to prove that he had purchased adhesive stamps, which revealed his fraudulent intent.

"He was first arrested during the course of investigation but later released on interim bail in 2013 after assuring the court that he would repay Rs 10 crore in 15 days. However, he only deposited Rs 3.5 lakh and went underground," said the officer.

The actor was first declared a proclaimed offender in April 2016. Though re-arrested in March 2017 and granted bail in June the same year, he again absconded, leading to his being declared a PO a second time in November 2018.

In their pursuit for him, police zeroed in on his location at Golden Treasure Apartment in Vanagaram in Chennai, and arrested the 64-year-old on July 27.

Popularly known as "Powerstar" in the Tamil film industry, Srinivasan has been associated with films as a comedian, producer, singer. He even projected himself as a politician. He holds a diploma in acupressure from a Chinese university, acquired through distance learning.

His passion for cinema led him to establish a trading company in Chennai, through which he allegedly lured businessmen with promises of large bank loans. Srinivasan has acted in several Tamil films.

Police said he is also named in six other cases in Chennai for similar offences.