- 25% commission bait to ‘unfreeze’ Rs. 124 crore from IT Department
- Kerala family arrives in luxury cars & dupes Mysuru furniture dealer
Mysore/Mysuru: A Kerala-based family posing as affluent buyers has defrauded a furniture store owner in the city of Rs. 99,65,500. Vijayanagar Police have registered an FIR against five individuals in connection with the elaborate scam. The fraud, which unfolded between Aug. 8, 2021 and Oct. 13, 2025, targeted Tree Trend Furniture — a high-end outlet on Hunsur Main Road in Hinkal. The store’s proprietor, A.C. Joy, a resident of Hootagalli, filed a complaint accusing five members of the same family of orchestrating the deception.
According to the complaint, the accused — identified as 50-year-old M.K. Hakkin, 45-year-old Hafsath Beevi, 22-year-old M. Mohammad Khalis, 19-year-old M.H. Mohammad Vasil and 45-year-old M.E. Pravees, all from Kozhikode in Kerala — arrived at the store in luxury cars in 2021, claiming they had purchased two new homes in Kerala and wanted premium furniture.
Proof of homes
To gain the store owner’s trust, Hakkin reportedly showed two bungalows via WhatsApp video calls and even introduced an engineer during the conversation.
Hakkin selected furniture worth Rs. 40 lakh and handed over blank cheques, assuring the owner that they could be presented to the bank on a specified date and that the furniture could be dispatched after the cheques are realised.
Acting in good faith, Joy packed furniture worth Rs. 40 lakh and later presented the cheques, which bounced due to insufficient funds.
Freeze by IT Department
When informed, Hakkin claimed his account held Rs. 124 crore but was frozen by the Income Tax Department. He produced documents to support his bank balance story and promised to buy more furniture once the funds were released.
Later, Hakkin sought financial help from Joy to ‘unfreeze’ his bank accounts, promising a 25 percent commission if Rs. 124 crore was released. He further assured that he would purchase more furniture and offer commissions on future deals.
Trusting these assurances, Joy transferred money in instalments amounting to Rs. 99,65,500.
However, when he repeatedly demanded repayment and urged Hakkin to take delivery of the packed furniture, Hakkin stalled, claiming the issue could only be settled in New Delhi and luring Joy with talk of a multi-crore business opportunity.
When demands for more money continued, Joy realised he had been cheated and approached the Vijayanagar Police, who registered an FIR against the five accused under charges of fraud and criminal conspiracy.
Team sent to Kerala
Vijayanagar Police Inspector S.D. Suresh Kumar told Star of Mysore this morning that investigation and document verification are underway. The accused have provided Kozhikode addresses, but no additional details were available with the complainant.
A Police team has been dispatched to Kerala to identify the accused based on CCTV footage obtained from the furniture store, the Inspector added.
This post was published on October 16, 2025 6:45 pm