Thiruvananthapuram: Sabarinath, who was convicted in the controversial multi-crore Total4U scam, was booked in a new fraud case in Thiruvananthapuram. The Vanchiyoor police registered a case against him for allegedly cheating a Thiruvananthapuram-based lawyer of ₹34.33 lakh by promising to start an e-commerce business.

According to police, the accused cheated the lawyer when he was out on bail in the case related to the Total4U scam.  In his complaint, Adv Sanjay Varma accused Sabarinath of swindling ₹34.33 lakh from him by promising to start an e-commerce firm. The complainant claimed that he had handed over the money to the accused on January 9, 2024, reported PTI.

“He then registered a firm in the complainant's name with the Registrar of Companies in Bengaluru. However, neither did he start the business nor return the money, thereby committing cheating,” according to the FIR.

A case has been registered under IPC sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating), police said, adding that Sabarinath would soon be summoned for interrogation.

Sabarinath first came into the limelight in 2007 when he allegedly cheated over 1,200 people of around Rs 200 crore through investment firms named Nest Investment, INEST, Total4U, and SJR Group, police said.

Sabarinath was only 19 when he was first arrested in connection with the multi-crore investment scam.

In 2018, a magisterial court convicted him in the case. According to the police, Sabarinath has served the sentence given to him in some of the cases connected to the scam and in others the trial is still pending.