Kochi (Kerala): Two silver coins from the 30 coins Judas was paid for betraying Jesus, the Biblical crosier of Mosses, a lamp that is still burning with the olive oil used by Muhammed Nabi, the white towel that used to wipe the face of Jesus when he was brought down from the Cross, the document of Mysore palace, the crown of Tipu, books from the libraries of Mugal kings, antiques from the palace of Chatrapathi Sivaji, original painting of Davinci and all of these were 'available' in a private museum in Kochi and the owner of the museum was Monson Mavungal, who is now being arrested for cheating several people through his fake antique business.
Monsonmavungal.com and his Youtube channel still claim to sell these items, at their museum located at Kaloor in Kochi. It is shocking that there were thousands of people who believed this high-profile conman, who used his connections with senior politicians, IPS officers, and Chief Secretaries to lure his victims to the trade.
Monson Mavungal is similar to a character who stepped right out from a blockbuster Hollywood crime thriller. He could put the best fraudster in the world to shame with his superbly crafted and meticulously implemented trickery.
He make people believe that he had 8 doctorates and was a Germany trained cosmetologist. He had in fact treated K Sudhakaran, the present KPCC president to bring back his youthfulness, through a treatment called Kayakalpam (said to be an ancient treatment method to prevent aging). He claimed he was an antique expert who had been in the trade for over 25 years and was a member of the World Peace Council. He earned well through his Youtube channel, mostly presenting his fake antique materials and describing them.
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When he finally landed in the police net, following a complaint to Chief Minister from Yakub, a native of Kozhikode, countless skeletons are tumbling out of the closet and his connections with VVIPs of Kerala too are coming out. Yakub told the police that Monson had collected Rs. 25 lakhs from him offering to make him his business partner and later cheated him. Yakub said Monson had collected Rs.10 crores from many people in a similar way and cheated all of them.
Yakub's allegations were just the tip of an iceberg of unbelievable proportions. Many who had worked with Monson started coming out to depose against the fraudster. Aji, who has been a close companion of Monson for over 10 years said that most of these antiques that Monson claimed to have collected from museums around the world during his trips abroad, were actually made by his own carpenters from Cherthala in Alappuzha.
His 'most priced' collections the crosier of Mosses and the thrown of Tipu Sultan were made by the carpenters in Cherthala. Some of the items were collected from Kochi at throwaway prices and remodeled to suit the image of antique lovers.
Police said Monson had sold these items, most of them do not even cost Rs. 10,000, at huge prices claiming them to be original antiques. He also collected money from many offerings to make them business partners.
He used the money he collected to grow socially, befriending top bureaucrats and cinema actors. He made it a point to photograph all the VVIPs visited his 'museum' and posted them on social media to grow his credibility. Whenever someone found out his fraudulent ways, he used the high-ranked police officials to threaten the complainants and suppressed the cases against him.
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Police said Monson even forged bank account documents and court orders to make people believe that his Rs.2.62 lakh crores, which he earned through sales of antiques, is being stuck in foreign banks and courts have issued an order in his favour directing the Centre Government to release the funds. He also brought in conmen under the guise of FEMA officials to his house and arranged meetings with his victims, in order to gain their confidence and thereby creating a chance to loot more money from them.
Many high-profile police officials and politicians are now being accused of teaming up with Monson, helping him grow his business. Former DGP Loknath Behra, who is seen sharing space with Monson in several photographs said to be taken from the house of Monson, was accused of providing police security to Monson's house in Kochi and IG Lakshmana was accused of helping Monson settle several cases against him.
The complainants had accused that money has been handed over to Monson in the presence of a DIG and present KPCC president K Sudhakaran. Sudhakaran, however, has rubbished this claim and said that he had only met Monson for his treatment. A video of him having a conversation, reportedly with IG Lakshmana, discussing money details and the need to 'teach a lesson to a police officer who worked against his interests' has been released.
A woman from Kochi has also come out against Monson, accusing him of protecting her rapist, using his high-level connections. She says though police had registered a case against Monson with non-bailable sections, he escaped scot-free with the help of senior police officials. Hour after hour more fraudulent stories of Monson are coming out and police say that more victims are likely to come out against this master trickster.
Monson, now 52 years of age and a native of Cherthala in Alappuzha, started his criminal journey as early as 1995 itself. Exclusive details available with ETV Bharat prove that Monson, who started living at Rajakumari in Idukki district, when his wife got a job at a private school there as a teacher, cheated many in Idukki after offering them to get Maruti 800 cars cheaply and immediately from Kochi.
It was the time when Maruti 800 cars had a waiting period of over six months for delivery. Monson reportedly took money from many, offering to get them the cars at cheap rates and later cheated them. He was also into selling second-hand television sets and cheated many after offering them to get cheap television sets.
Monson shifted his base back to Kochi in the year 2007 and started his business of 'antiques'. Now, he owns an envious fleet of cars including Bentleys, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and Benz. His source of revenue for having such uber luxury cars is yet to be known.
Many more stories of Monson will come out soon on how the VVIPs were involved, either in his business or to help him get out of trouble in the coming days. K Surendran, state BJP president has already demanded an investigation by a central agency into the case as several high-profile names have been linked with Monson.
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