Malayalam film actress arrested for Rs 130 cr financial fraud

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 16 (IANS) Malayalam actor Dhanya Mary Varghese was detained by police in connection with a fraud case. She was arrested more than a month after her husband John Jacob’s father was held by police for allegedly duping customers of his real estate firm.
Jacob Samson is the chairman of Samson and Sons Builders and Developers Limited, which he runs with his two sons John and Sam. He was held by district Crime Branch in Thiruvananthapuram earlier for defrauding the investors with the promise of high-interest rates.
According to reports, Jacob lured the investors on the pretext of paying high-interest rates and his firm collected money to the tune of Rs 30 crore from about 30 people. Following his arrest, Jacob’s two sons went absconding and police had launched a manhunt for them.
Meanwhile, the police had also been probing the involvement of John’s wife Dhanya in the case. The reports said Jacob allegedly used the popularity and influence of the celebrity couple to attract the investors into giving money to his firm. The details regarding John’s whereabouts remains unknown.
Dhanya made her acting debut with Tamil film Thirudi in 2006 and later debuted in Malayalam with Nanma in 2007. She has acted in about 20 films, most of them in Malayalam. She got engaged to John in 2011 and the couple got hitched in 2012 at Mateer Memorial Church, Trivandrum. Following her marriage, she quit acting and has a son named Johan.