Police have arrested a woman, running an NGO, along with with three associates for allegedly cheating 2,700 people of Rs 8.1 crore in Hyderabad, India Today reports. Police said the accused promised to build houses with an overseas subsidy for them in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district.

According to a police release, Chairperson of the Malyavi Karunodaya Society For People Of Old Age and Physically Handicapped, K Krishnamma and three others who held different posts in the society were arrested on Saturday (25 May).

The statement added that the police recovered cash of Rs 12.22 lakh alongside ‘incriminating' material from the accused’s possession. The fraud came into light after a complaint was filed by a labourer in Tangutur village.

The complaint said that Krishnamma visited his village six months ago assuring them that she would build double bedroom houses for poor people costing Rs 7.5 lakh each with Rs 5 lakh as subsidy arranged from NRI donors.

The buyers need to pay only Rs 2.5 lakh, she had said. Krishnamma collected Rs 30,000 as advance from many people in the village, and even after six months after collecting advance, no construction work had begun.

The police registered a case based on the complaint and investigation revealed the accused had collected a total of Rs 8.1 crore from 2,700 people from different villages in the district by making the same promise. The police are still in the hunt to nab the other absconding accused.