The special court for the trial of cases under the Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors (TNPID) Act in Coimbatore on Wednesday sentenced a couple, who ran a real estate firm, to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for cheating 103 investors of ₹1.35 crore.
Special Judge M.N. Senthil Kumar awarded the punishment to S. Balu alias Paul Mathew, who resided at Kumaran Street at Varadharajapuram Medu near Singanallur in Coimbatore, and his wife Sherlin Sheeba.
As per the charges-sheet filed by the Economic Offences Wing-II (EOW), Balu and Sheeba ran real estate firm Chola Promoters on Kothari Mill Lane at Singanallur. The company advertised through television and newspapers that house sites were available for sale in a site called Ganapathy Garden B block at Edayarpalayam near Pappampatti, for which an advance of ₹25,000 and a monthly instalment of ₹5,000 had to be paid per site.
After seeing the advertisement, B. Senthil Kumar of Kavundampalayam paid ₹2,97,500 for two sites. The sites were not registered in the name of Kumar though he had paid the entire amount. He lodged a complaint with the City Crime Branch (CCB) in August 2016 after the office of the real estate firm was found shut and the promoters missing. The alleged cheating took place from July 2013 to February 2016 and CCB registered a case against the firm and the couple, which was transferred to EOW-II in February 2017.
The court found the accused guilty of offences under Sections 120B, 420 and 5 of TNPID Act after the trial. Special Public Prosecutor C. Kannan said besides the imprisonment, the court levied a fine of ₹1,39,22,000, which the couple has to distribute to the affected investors.
Published – December 03, 2025 07:16 pm IST
