RIYADH: An Indian national has swindled hundreds of thousands of riyals out of a number of compatriots here and probably fled the Kingdom. A complaint signed by a group of 20 victims of the fraud has been submitted at the Indian Embassy.
The embassy has alerted the police authorities in India’s Tamil Nadu state in case the man has left Riyadh and is living in his home town in Nagapattinam district.
Ayyappan, one of the victims who lost about SR19,000 in the scam, said a person called T. Sekar had started a saving scheme known as chit-fund, which is very popular in India.
Sekar’s chit-fund has been functioning for the past several years and people have deposited hundreds of thousands of riyals in it, said Ayyappan, who came to Arab News’ office to report the case with Antony, another of the victims.
He said the victims have been trying to locate Sekar and his accomplices, who were seen in Jeddah recently. “Now, we are keeping a watch on their possible hide-outs,” said Antony, who lost SR14,000. The men said that Sekar first opened the chit-fund in Dammam, where he had been working, and then moved his operation to Riyadh.
In a similar case recently, another Indian worker duped his fellow workers of some SR120,000 and fled the country. He was arrested after police raided his house in a village near Hyderabad.
In another case, police in Kerala arrested a man who had duped many workers in Saudi Arabia and then decamped with a large sum.
