Coimbatore:Conwoman Sruthi, arrested recently along with her parents for cheating an NRI to the tune of Rs 41 lakh, was taken into judicial custody yesterday. She was arrested on January 18 by Coimbatore City Crime Branch.

Sruthi (21), her mother Chitra alias Amutha Venkatesh (48), step-father Prassana Venkatesh (38) and brother Subash (19) were arrested based on the complaint of NRI Balamurugan of cheating him of Rs 41,14,062 by promising marriage with Sruthi.

According to the police statement, Sruthi used part of the money to purchase gold with ruby and diamond stones worth Rs 15.5 lakhs (62 sovereigns) and also invested Rs 5.5 lakh in mutual funds.

Sruthi also transferred about Rs 18 lakhs to a foreign account in her name.

Police found that Sruthi and her accomplices had cheated many others in a similar manner and used to the money to buy jewellery and electronic gadgets. Most of these articles were seized by the investigators.

Sruthi had also used part of the money to study abroad. She and her accomplices used matrimony websites to target youngsters working abroad and cheated them with marriage offers.