- Kochi Crime Branch got to question Hafeez for five days, one year after NRI bizman filed a Rs 108-crore cheating case against his son-in-law
- Hafeez ran high-value Ponzi schemes, promising to double money in 30 days
- Abdul Aslam Gurukkal, national vice-president of BJP's Minority Morcha is the fifth accused in the case
Kochi: Hafeez Kudroli (29), accused of swindling Rs 108 crore from his businessman father-in-law Abdul Lahir Hassan, led a financially risky life to repay the debts he incurred running Ponzi schemes, said Kochi Crime Branch officers who questioned him for five days.
He has run up a debt of Rs 8 crore by just taking fancy luxury cars on rent to impress his father-in-law, Abdul Lahir Hassan, said DySP Rex Bobby Arvin. He was also running high-value Ponzi schemes, promising to double investors' money in 30 days, he said. "The money involved was big. He promised to return Rs 2 crore at the end of 30 days to anyone who invested Rs 1 crore in his schemes. But they were making multi-crore investments. He duped some and some people duped him," said the officer.
In turn, he allegedly duped his father-in-law who runs five schools and a construction company in Dubai to stay afloat.
After marrying Lahir's only daughter Hajera Lahir in 2017, Kudroli allegedly swindled Rs 107.99 crore out of the family between July 2018 and March 2022. He would allegedly cook up stories of big-budget property deals, raids by the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate, forge documents of these government agencies and property developers, and impersonate celebrities and business owners to rip off the Lahirs.
In June, Goa Police arrested him and questioned him for five days in connection with forging a letter of 'Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Karnataka & Goa Region'.
Investigators said Hafeez tried to play the system to avoid arrest. "Imagine a bail hearing lasting for one year," said an officer.
Lahir filed a detailed complaint with documents of financial transactions with Aluva police on August 21, 2022. In September Hafeez moved the High Court of Kerala seeking anticipatory bail. After almost a year, the court gave Kerala Police the 'deemed custody' of Hafeez for five days. "That is, he will turn up at the police station at 10 am and we can question him till 4 pm, for five days," said Arvin.
For the first three days, police said Hafeez was not cooperative. "He kept denying everything. He denied his voice messages. He denied his text messages," said the DySP. Hafeez reportedly accused Lahir and Hajera of forging the documents.
Then the police brought in his estranged wife Hajera from Dubai to break him. "We hoped he would hesitate to lie in front of her," he said. It partially worked.
The police also questioned Akshay Thomas Vaidian (38) of The One World, a documentation firm in Kochi, for five days. He is accused of helping forge documents for Hafeez.
Apart from forging Income Tax Principal Commissioner's letter, Hafeez is also accused of forging letters of builders, investment firms, and property sales deeds. He did all these to win the confidence of Lahir. "We suspect Vaidian helped Hafeez with these fake documents. His laptop has been seized and sent for forensic test," said the DySP.
"Vaidian denied any wrongdoings and said he did not do documentation work for Kudroli. But we have found evidence of lakhs of rupees being transferred from Hafeez's account to Vaidian's. The money was more than what people usually pay for documentation," the officer said.
Also, Vaidian and Hafeez had started Kudroli Media Pvt Limited as partners, said the officers.
Hafeez, his parents Shafi Kudroli and Aisha also face charges of subjecting Hajera to cruelty. They were charged with section 498 A of IPC.
Hafeez and Vaidian are facing charges of forgery (S468 of IPC), using forged documents as genuine (S471 of IPC), and cheating (S420 of IPC).
Hafeez is also accused of taking away a Range Rover car, owned by Hajera's sister-in-law, a doctor in Puducherry. "We found that he gave the car to Aslam Gurukkal. We made him the fifth accused in the case," said the DySP.
Aslam Gurukkal or Abdul Aslam is a national vice-president of BJP's Minority Morcha or minority wing.
The investigators said they will move the court to seek permission to take Hafeez and Vaidian's voice samples.
They have also impounded Hafeez's passport. "Not that he can go to the UAE. He is wanted there too for economic offence," said Arvin.