Namakal, Nov 14: A channel partner from Erode and the head of an educational institution with whom he partnered have been arrested on charges of cheating and defrauding a Mumbai-based finance company of over Rs.4 crore through falsification of documents and other such activities.
Reports suggested that the two persons arrested were A. Senthil Kumar, CEO of A-Team Computers, a leading systems integrator and N.V. Natarajan, Chairman of the Paavai Group of educational institutions.
According to local media reports, a case was registered based on a complaint filed by Siemens Financial Services Private Limited from whom Natarajan had sought a loan to buy 1,500 computers for his institutions. The order was placed through A-Team computers who have specialized getting orders for many educational institutions financed.
According to Siemens Financial Services, the partner did not repay the loan after two terms at which point the institution sent officials to visit the college where it came to light that the funds had not been utilized by the educational institutions for buying computers.
Both Natarajan and Senthil were booked under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and produced before Judicial Magistrate – II in the Namakkal Court, who remanded them to judicial custody for 15 days.
A-Team computers was founded in 1987 with its headquarters in Erode and has more than 11 branches across Tamil Nadu. The company’s turnover was estimated at Rs.60 croe in 2009=10 with a 20 percent year-on-year claim made by the owners. The Paavai Group boasts of over 200 colleges in and around Tamil Nadu.
Senthilkumar is known to have handled business from HP in the past and even awarded No-1 HP Premier Business Partner in India as well as in the Asia Pacific on several occasions.