The Chennai police have arrested a 33-year-old man who, pretending to be an advocate, allegedly cheated two persons after collecting ₹2.38 lakh from them on the Madras High Court premises.

According to the police, one of the complainants named Saravanan, a resident of Pazhavanthangal, had taken a loan via his friend Balaji’s credit card in 2018 to meet his medical expenses when he was hospitalised. They made the payments in instalments, but despite that, the bank representative allegedly harassed them to pay more interest. The duo was looking for an advocate to file a case against the bank.

In 2023, the accused R. Vinoth Kumar met the duo on the Madras High Court premises and introduced himself as an advocate. He claimed he would appear for them in the case as he had previously dealt with bank cases, and asked them to pay him ₹2.38 lakh as fees. The duo paid the amount between November and December of 2023.

Neither did Kumar file the petition, nor did he return the money to Saravanan and Balaji. They then realised he was not an advocate as he had claimed.

In March 2024, when they confronted him and asked him to return the money, Kumar, and a woman, threatened the duo with dire consequences.

Based on a complaint, the High Court police registered a case against Kumar. He was arrested on Friday and sent to judicial remand.