Mumbai Crime: Maria Susairaj, 9 others booked in Rs 15 crore fake loans case

Maria Susairaj

The anti-extortion cell of Thane police has booked Maria Susairaj and nine others for cheating several businessmen, contractors and others in a Rs 15 Crore fake loan case. Susairaj, an actor, has previously served three years impronment for the murder of Neeraj Grover, a TV producer.

The case of fraud came to the fore after a Thane-based builder alleged that the gang had promised him a loan of Rs 30 crore, and instead, he had been cheated of Rs 3 crore, a sum which they had demanded as security. When the businessman inquired about the status of his loan, the proceeded to send several fake cops to his house who threatened to implicate him in fake cases.

Of the nine accused, Susairaj, a Gujarat-based man and a private bank employee are absconding. Meanwhile, the anti-extortion cell with Pradeep Sharma at the helm, arrested 32-year-old Parumita Chakravarty alias Banerjee 32, 54-year-old Hendry Nicolas Fernandez, 51-year-old Sneha alias Anita Sudhir Vedhpathak alias Deshpande, and 51-year-old Milind Raghunath Kadam.

A report in the Times of India quotes Inspector R V Kothmire as having stated, "Maria and Paromita became friends when both were lodged in Byculla jail between 2010 and 2011. After getting bail, Paromita teamed up with Susairaj who was already out after serving her sentence."

Maria Susairaj hit headlines for destroying critical evidence in the 2008 Neeraj Grover murder case. Grover's body was found cut into pieces, in Maria's Malad home. While Susairaj was awarded a three-year sentence, her husband Emile Jerome was found guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and sentenced to a term of 10 years.

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