Delhi Police arrests Tamil actor ‘Powerstar' over Rs 5-crore loan fraud

Indian Express

2 days ago

Fifteen years after Tamil actor and self-styled doctor S Srinivasan, popularly known as 'Powerstar', took Rs 5 crore from an infrastructure company on the pretext of securing it a Rs 1,000-crore loan, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police arrested him on July 27 in connection to the alleged fraud.
Srinivasan was arrested from Vanagaram in Chennai – his third in the case, said police. Evading trial since 2018, he was declared a proclaimed offender (PO) twice for absconding while out on bail. Police said that Srinivasan, who was arrested from the Golden Treasure Apartment in Chennai, is now in judicial custody.
Officers said that Srinivasan came to Chennai after completing a course in 'acupressure practice' from a China-based university through a distance education programme. 'His passion for films brought him to Chennai, where he set up a finance firm, Baba Trading Company, and advertised through brokers that he would help businessmen acquire bank loans,' Additional CP (EOW) Amrutha Gugloth said.
Along with his business, Srinivasan took an interest in acting, and played supporting roles in small banner films like Unakkaga Oru Kavithai. He then launched himself as a lead actor in the film Neethana Avan, giving himself the sobriquet 'Powerstar' in the film credits, police said.
The alleged fraud started when Blue Coast Infrastructure Development Limited, an infra company, started looking for investors to build hotels in Chennai. 'The company was approached by Henry Lalremsanga, Deepak Banga, Anil Varshney, and Ramanuja Muvvala, who presented themselves as experienced consultants capable of arranging a loan of Rs 1,000 crore for hotel and corporate investment purposes. They then introduced the company representatives to Srinivasan,' DCP (EOW) Ravi Kumar said.
As a proprietor of Baba Trading company, Srinivasan claimed that he could quickly arrange for a loan of Rs 1,000 crore for the developers. He took a fee of Rs 5 crore for arranging adhesive stamps for the company, and also gave it a post dated check to cash in if he wasn't able to deliver the stamps within 30 days, police said.
'Investigation revealed that Rs 5 crore was transferred on December 27, 2010 to Baba Trading Company by the complainant's company, and then into accounts controlled by Srinivasan and his wife. He withdrew Rs 50 lakh in cash and transferred Rs 4.5 crore into a joint account. A fixed deposit of Rs 4 crore was later made,' the DCP said.
Srinivasan was arrested in the case in 2013 after he failed to show any proof of his attempts to either secure a loan or to buy the stamps, police said. He got bail in September 2013, and fled twice before he was finally arrested on Sunday.
'He was first granted interim bail on September 27, 2013, with a commitment to repay Rs 10 crore within 15 days, of which he paid only Rs 3.5 lakh. He absconded and was declared a PO in April 2016. He was again arrested on March 7, 2017, granted bail on June 2, 2017. He again evaded trial, leading to him being again declared a PO on November 11, 2018,' the DCP said.
Police said Srinivasan has six cases pertaining to financial fraud pending against him.