Kasaragod: The prime accused in a major investment scam reported from here late 2019 year has surrendered before a local court on Wednesday.
TK Pookoya, the former Managing Director of Fashion Gold International, a chain of jewellery shops in north Kerala, surrendered at the First-Class Judicial Magistrate court in Kanhangad.
Pookoya is a member of the Muslim League's executive committee. He has been on the run for over a year.
The second accused in the case former legislator MC Kamarudheen, who was also the Chairman of the jewellery, was arrested by the investigation team and kept in remand for almost three months.
Kamaruddin and other accused were slapped with charges of cheating, misappropriation of funds, raising money from the public under an unregulated deposit scheme (Section 3 of Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act) and Section 5 of the Kerala Protection of Interests of Depositors in Financial Establishment Act 2013.
A special team of the Crime Branch is investigating the case.
Fashion Jewellery, which began its operations in 2006, went bust in October 2019.
The scam came to light when an investor M T P Abdul Basheer, approached prominent lawyer C Shukoor seeking legal advice to file a case against Pookoya Thangal in June 2020.
More than 150 cases have been filed by investors who have been duped across Kerala.