Psychic Never Saw Arrest Coming, by Greg Aris and Praveen Menon, The National, May 14, 2008

Psychic Never Saw Arrest Coming

By Greg Aris and Praveen Menon
The National
May 14, 2008

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080514/NATIONAL/637185438/1010/SPORT&Profile=1010

DUBAI // An Indian businesswoman conned out of hundreds of thousands of dirhams by the controversial astrologer and guru Santosh Madhavan said yesterday she was relieved he had finally been arrested.

Seraphine Edwin, who has lived in Dubai for more than 10 years, was once a friend of Mr Madhavan, who is also known as Swami Amritachaitanya. The self-styled "Godman" or saint, who claimed to have supernatural powers and to see the future, befriended Mrs Edwin before cheating her through a bogus hotel venture.

"I am happy that the police finally caught up with him and he is in prison. He is a big fraud and everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie," Mrs Edwin, 60, said.

Seraphine Edwin at her office in Deira.
Photo by Jeffrey E Biteng

Indian police arrested Mr Madhavan at his luxury ashram in Kerala, India, on Tuesday.

Mrs Edwin, director of a Dubai plumbing and fittings company and a mother of three, said she met Mr Madhavan in 2002 through a friend and was told he had supernatural abilities. After becoming friends and gaining her confidence in his so-called powers, Mr Madhavan said he wanted to build a hotel in Dubai and name it after her. He asked for Dh400,000 (US$109,000) to get the venture off the ground.

"I believed him and gave him Dh400,000 to start the hotel project," Mrs Edwin said.

However, as soon as she handed over the money, Mr Madhavan fled the city, leaving her close to financial ruin. She was unable to trace him until he resurfaced years later as a revered "Godman" known as Swami Amritachaitanya.

"I have waited six years for justice and I feel to a certain extent that finally I got it. Now, I hope I get my money back. I suffered a lot of financial problems because of this man," Mrs Edwin said.

It is understood that Mr Madhavan was arrested in Kerala, India's southernmost state, on an Interpol "red alert" notice issued on the advice of Dubai police in 2004.

Major Gen Khamis Mattar al Mazeina, the deputy commandant general of Dubai Police, said they were still waiting for official confirmation from Interpol that Madhavan had been arrested.

"We will not be extraditing him, as he is an Indian national, but we will be seeking compensation and damages for the time and money we have put into capturing this man, as well as compensation for the victim," Major Gen Mazeina said.

The net began to close in on Mr Madhavan after a magazine article revealed he was wanted by Dubai police on fraud charges. Indian detectives raided his 16-suite ashram in Kochi on Sunday after several other police complaints against him were lodged. They found pornographic DVDs, drugs and the pelt of an endangered tiger.

Mr Madhavan was arrested on Tuesday. Yesterday, his application for bail was rejected by the Kerala high court and he was remanded in custody for five days.

According to police reports from Kerala, Mr Madhavan is facing a range of charges, including the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl at a care home he funded, possession of three fake passports and the illegal tiger skin, as well as the fraud in Dubai.

Questions have been raised as to how Mr Madhavan managed to build a property empire and socialise with Kerala's political elite and top policemen while a long-standing Interpol warrant was out for his arrest. The Kerala government has suspended the assistant commissioner of police Sam Christy Daniel for his alleged links with Mr Madhavan.

Born into a poor family in Kattapana, Kerala, in March 1973, Mr Madhavan started out as a temple priest. After moving to Dubai in the late 1990s, his carefully cultivated image as a mystical astrologer and holy man won him many admirers in the city, who were willing to pay him for his "abilities" and to predict their futures.

After allegedly conning Mrs Edwin and fleeing Dubai, he returned to his native Kerala, building the palatial ashram in Kochi and founding a trust called Shanthitheeram. The ashram was used as a guesthouse to accommodate his astrology clients, whom he claims included politicians, film stars, high-profile policemen and businessmen.