Woman socialite picked up for multi-crore cheating

HYDERABAD: The Narsingi police on Friday picked up a noted socialite Shilpa Chowdary in connection with a multi-crore cheating case in which she allegedly duped several high profile people.

According to the police, Chowdary collected money from various people promising high interest and in some cases, with a false promise of investing in a top school owned by her relative. The police also said she had allegedly duped the victims to the tune of crores of rupees so far. 

The Narsingi police, who registered an FIR against her last week and had been carrying out investigations, said Madhapur ACP Ch. Raghunandan Rao.  Narsingi police inspector V. Shiva Kumar confirmed that Chowdary was picked up for questioning on Friday and that an investigation was underway. 

Meanwhile, sources said that Chowdary was involved in several cheating cases. “After promising high interest returns, she collected amounts running into crores and did not pay back. When confronted, she claimed that she gave the amounts to someone else and that they did not return them to her.

Her victims include high-profile personalities including actors and bureaucrats. It was also revealed that she had promised one of the victims that she would invest the money in a popular educational institution as she had a relative in the management.

In another case, she allegedly mortgaged jewellery of a person and did not return the money, sources said.

A noted Tollywood actor, along with his wife, also reportedly complained against the woman on Friday night. The police sources said many more complaints were likely to be lodged against her.