The prime accused in 'Total 4U' fraud case, Sabarinath (file photo)Thiruvananthapuram: The prime accused in 'Total 4U' fraud case, Sabarinath, sentenced to a combined jail term of 40 years in two separate cases and a fine of Rs 8 crore.
Judicial magistrate T.K Suresh awarded the sentence to Sabarinath who confessed to his crime during the trial. Both the sentences of 20 years each will run concurrently.
In the case filed by Subhash Gandhi, a fine of Rs 2 crore and a jail term of 20 years was awarded to Sabarinath. In the case that had Sunil Kumar and others as petitioners, Sabarinath was awarded another 20 years' imprisonment and a fine of Rs 6.25 crore.
While Rs 47 lakhs was duped from Subhash, others had lost up to Rs 50 crore. If the fine is not payed, one year each will be added to his jail terms in the two cases.
The money laundering was carried out by establishing companies like Nest Investment Solutions, I Nest, Total 4U (Total Solution) and so on. Huge amounts of money was collected from investors promising them heavy interests and were duped by denying them even the principal amount.
The case which was first probed by the local police was later transferred to the Crime Branch. The chargesheet was filed after a probe conducted by a team led by former crime branch DySP P. Raghu.
As many as 33 cases were registered against Sabarinath and nine chargesheets were submitted in the court. The Crime Branch presented 501 evidences and 308 material evidence. There were 19 co-accused in the case including Bindu, Chandramathi, Dr. Ramani, Hemalatha and so on.
The Crime Branch had already frozen Rs 2 crore deposited in the accounts of the accused. The court has accepted this. The investigation team had seized 23 luxury cars that belonged to Sabarinath and the other accused in the case.
Of them, seventeen were sold through Receiver. The crime branch had earlier attached two houses that belonged to Sabarinath and the land for which he had signed agreement giving money in advance. Special prosecutor N.S. Panchu appeared for the prosecution in the case.
