Duo booked for embezzling Rs 1.50 cr from Kottayam priest

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Kottayam: The Kaduthuruthy Police have arrested two men for scamming Rs 1.50 crore from a priest through online trading. The accused, Muhammad Minaj (21) from Thamarassery in Kozhikode and Shamnad (32), promised Fr Tinesh Kurian Pinarkayil, the Assistant Director of Kothanallur Thuvanisa Prayer House, an 850 per cent profit on the money he invested.
Father Tinesh had borrowed money from friends and relatives for online trading. The scam took place over several months, from November 2024 to January 15, 2025. The fraudsters were caught while trying to withdraw the stolen money from an ATM. The duo previously withdrew Rs 1.40 lakh from various ATMs across the state using the same account, police said.
The cops tracked their locations by monitoring the transactions linked to this single bank account, police added. The duo is part of a larger network in North India.
The investigation was led by Kaduthuruthy Police Station house officer Reneesh Illikal, along with senior civil police officers E A Anish, Suman P Mani, Ajeesh, and Ajith.