A fraudster siphoned off Rs 1.7 crore in the name of prominent Telugu film singer Sunitha.
The police have arrested a person by the name of Chaitanya who has cheated several people claiming to be the nephew of the singer.
The issue first came to light when a few days back the singer herself said on Facebook that someone named Chaitanya, from Ananthapuram of Andhra Pradesh, was befriending other celebrities and even collecting money from common people claiming to be her nephew.
Following that, a woman lodged a complaint with the cyber crime unit of the Rachakonda police claiming that a person by the name of Chaitanya had collected a lot of money from her falsely claiming to be Sunitha's nephew.
The woman, belonging to the Kothapeta area of the city, is a big fan of the singer. Cashing in on her obsession, the accused gave her a phone number saying that it belonged to the singer, and was reportedly communicating with the woman over Whatsapp claiming to be the singer.
After some time, he asked the woman to take membership of the Kerala-based Ananda Cherlayam Trust by paying Rs 50,000. Believing him completely, she transferred the amount. Chaitanya started collecting/borrowing more and more money from her after that, an amount which hit a whopping Rs 1.7 crore, saying that he was selling off his lands located in the US and would repay her.
Following Sunitha's Facebook post, the woman complained to the police, who moved swiftly and arrested Chaitanya.