Posing as fan, conman swindles Rs 1 lakh from actor ‘Bonda’ Mani

CHENNAI: Police have secured Rajesh Prithivi (34) who, in the guise of helping hospitalised film actor, ‘Bonda’ Mani, swindled cash from his bank account.

The actor had appealed for financial help for his hospital expenses through social media after which help poured in from the film industry. The actor was admitted to a private hospital and later shifted to the Government Omandurar multispeciality hospital.

While he was undergoing treatment there, Rajesh from Tiruppur met him, claiming to be a fan and wanting to assist the family.

Mani was discharged on September 27 and Rajesh travelled home with him. While at home, the actor’s wife, Madhavi, gave him Mani’s ATM card and asked him to withdraw cash to buy some medicines.

A few minutes later, the actor had received a text message from his bank stating that Rs 1.05 lakh was debited from his account at a private jewellery store.

Rajesh could not be reached over phone. Neither did he reach out to the family. Realising they were conned, they filed a police complaint. After a search, police picked up Rajesh on Thursday.

Investigations revealed that Rajesh was a serial conman who had cheated several people by assuming various identities and has many pending cases against him in Chennai and Coimbatore.