Man accused of defrauding Lulu Group in Saudi of Rs 4.5 crore arrested from Kerala

A man accused of cheating and stealing Rs 4.5 crore from the Lulu Avenue mall in Riyadh has been arrested by the police in Thiruvananthapuram. Asianet reports that 42-year-old Shiju Jospeh was arrested within Thumba Police Station limits on Tuesday. 

Asianet further reports that he was being assisted by a Jordanian native, Mohammed Hakim, in committing the crime. The Times of India says that Hakim was an employee of one of the companies that would deliver services to the mall, and that the two hatched a plan to create bills for the products, and redirect the products elsewhere. 

The crime was carried out by the pair for over one and a half years, but when it was discovered by Lulu Group and a complaint filed with the Riyadh police, Shiju reportedly fled Saudi Arabia and arrived in Kerala. After this, the Lulu Group filed a complaint with the Thiruvananthapuram City Police. 

TOI reports that police found it difficult to nab Shiju as he did not use his cell phone much, and instead used WhatsApp, which is harder to track and trace. However, a squad of the police was able to nab him thanks to the work of cyber experts within their department. Thumba police sub-inspector Hemanth Kumar recorded the arrest of Shiju Joseph, who was produced at the police station wearing a bright pink shirt, and a case of cheating was filed against him. 

Shiju was remanded to judicial custody after being produced before a magistrate. It appears that Riyadh police can approach the court in Kerala if they want Shiju to be handed over to them. Despite the crime being committed in Saudi Arabia, there are provisions for those accused in such crimes to be arrested and tried in India, no matter where the crime was originally committed.