Dubai: What do Mother Teresa’s hair, the staff of Moses and the sandals of Sai Baba have in common? Apparently, they are all sitting in a museum of antiques in Kerala, waiting to be bought by gullible art collectors.
And the man who owns the museum and claims to have several other artefacts dating back many millennia is Monson Mavunkal, a 52-year-old antique dealer and social media influencer from the southern Indian state of Kerala, who has hit the headlines for allegedly swindling people of Rs100 million.
Monson, who is allegedly close to several politicians, actors and police officials, is now in judicial custody.
He has been the talking point in frontline dailies, news channels and social media in the state after the Kerala Crime Branch arrested him from his Alappuzha home on September 26.
According to reports, Monson allegedly cheated six people of Rs100 million (approximately Dh5 million), but has a balance of only Rs200 (Dh 9.9) in his bank account. His modus operandi – use the accounts of employees to collect money.
According to the report filed in the court, "the fraud was operated by forging a document in the name of a foreign bank. There was no account abroad in his name. He deceived the complainants by convincing them that Rs262 trillion was credited to his bank account by selling antiquities, and he needed Rs100 million to withdraw it." Mavunkal also claimed that he had sold antiques to well-known people abroad.
Who is Monson Mavunkal?
Born in Cherthala in Alappuzha district, Monson is a school dropout who rose to prominence when he converted his rented house in Kochi into a museum of antiques. When prominent politicians, film stars and businessmen visited his museum, Monson used social media to publish his photographs with them, giving credibility to his claims.
He convinced the VIPs that he had a collection of rare antiques, including the throne of Tipu Sultan.
He allegedly claimed that he had a piece of clothing that Jesus had worn and two of the 30 coins that Judas received for betraying Jesus, among others.
The accused claimed that his collection included the books used by Maratha King Chhatrapati Shivaji, Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, several holy books and documents such as a version of the epic Mahabharata written on palm leaves, and the paintings of Raja Ravi Varma and Pablo Picasso.
According to information on Monson's website, he identifies himself as a world peace promoter, philanthropist, educationist and motivational speaker.
He also introduced himself as a renowned cosmetologist with a penchant for collecting antiques.
According to reports, Monson told the police that the drugs he prescribed for his patients were manufactured by mixing various medicines available in the market.
Many VIP patients found the medicines useful. KPCC president K. Sudhakaran is one of those who received treatment from Monson.
Monson is a patron of the Pravasi Malayali Federation and chairman of the Kosmos Group and the Kalinga Kalyan Foundation. He also runs an archaeological centre in Kochi.
Prominent personalities at the museum
Following the arrest of Monson, social media has been flooded with pictures of prominent people who visited his museum.
One picture showed former Director General of Police, Loknath Behera, sitting on the throne of Tipu Sultan with a sword. He was accompanied by Assistant Director General of Police Manoj Abraham.
Behera, who has since taken over as the Managing Director of Kochi Metro, went on leave on Thursday. Though Behera is yet to speak on the case, he has reportedly gone on leave for his wife’s treatment in Odisha.
South Indian superstar Mohanlal, Kerala actor Sreenivasan, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President K. Sudhakaran, and singer M. G. Sreekumar have also visited his museum.
Kerala ministers Roshi Augustine and Ahammed Devarkovil have also been photographed with Monson.
Former Chief Secretary Jiji Thompson, the Inspector General of Police Lakshman Gugulloth and former Deputy Inspector General of Police S. Surendran have also visited the museum. Monson has allegedly gifted watches, sunglasses, rings with ‘precious’ stones, ornaments, perfumes and paintings of reportedly antique value.
However, many VIPs who visited Monson now claim that they did so under the impression that he was a doctor. They believed Mavunkal’s claim that he was a cosmetologist with eight post-doctoral honours.
Wedding expenses paid
According to media reports, Monson footed the wedding expenses of two actresses.
Reports also say that the antique dealer organised birthday parties of many prominent people and hosted new year celebrations where many celebrities and senior police officers were present.
What is the case against Monson?
Although Monson was successful in duping several prominent personalities, his downfall started when six Keralites filed complaints against him.
According to reports, Monson introduced himself as a diamond merchant and antique business dealer and borrowed millions of rupees from them.
He convinced them that the money he received from business deals abroad was blocked by the federal government agencies, and that he was involved in a legal fight to retrieve the money.
• Monson had reportedly cheated six people of Rs100 million.
• Three more cases have been registered against him.
• One case is based on the allegation by a Thiruvananthapuram-based sculptor that Monson owed Rs700,000 to him for the cost of carving idols and artefacts.
• An investor from Kottayam alleged that Monson took Rs17.5 million from him after promising to give an estate in Wayanad on lease. Later, it was found that the estate was owned by the Madhya Pradesh government.
• In the third case, Monson wanted to be the chairman of a TV channel Samskara by investing Rs 100 million.
Monson claims to be doctor specialised in cosmetology
The police are likely to register a case against Monson for claiming that he was a doctor specialised in cosmetology.
A cheating case will also be registered against him if the antiques he proposed to sell are found to be fake.
The state intelligence wing also submitted a report to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan after conducting a detailed investigation on Mavunkal and his close links with celebrities and police officials.
The complainants have also filed a petition to Vijayan.
Italy-based woman’s link
Meanwhile, the name of a Keralite woman based in Italy has surfaced following the arrest of Monson.
Anitha Pullalyil reportedly had close connections with Monson and high ranking police officials.
Anitha, hailing from Thrissur, is based in Italy, but became close to not just Behera, but also to Monson and numerous other well-known people through the Loka Kerala Sabha (LKS). The LKS is a global meet of Keralite diaspora settled outside Kerala and was first launched in 2018.
Are the artefacts genuine?
The Forest Department will conduct tests on the ‘fake’ elephant tusks in Monson's collection. Monson claimed that one tusk was crafted using camel bone and one using wood. A few conch shells were also reportedly artificial ones.
According to the Crime Branch, most of the antique items were made by local artisans and the Archaeology department was planning to examine the artefacts.
‘Premium’ vehicles inspected
The Motor Vehicles Department inspected the eight ‘premium’ vehicles parked at Monson's house in Kochi. However, most of them were not in running condition.
Kareena Kapoor’s Porsche among luxury cars seized
It has emerged that a luxury car registered in the name of Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor is part of Monson's vehicle collection.
The Porsche car with Maharashtra registration was lying at the police station premises at Cherthala for the past year. The police impounded the vehicle in October 2020.
The car was among the 20 vehicles that the police seized from Monson, following a case with the Srivastam group in Kerala.
Incredible claims
During interviews, Monson has made some incredible claims about his antique collection.
He has allegedly claimed that he has a collection ranging from a bloodstained cloth belonging to Jesus Christ, two coins paid to Judas for betraying Jesus, to Mother Teresa's hair.
Monson also claims to have the staff of Moses, with a wooden snake coiled around it.
According to reports, the list includes a cross made out of the mud that was on Jesus’s feet when he was crucified, a thread from the cloth used to wipe Jesus’s face during the crucifixion, a nail of Portuguese priest St Anthony of Padua, a piece of St Alphonsa’s veil (St Alphonsa was the first Indian woman to be canonized), St Kuriakose Elias Chavara’s clothes, a 2,000-year-old jug of Jesus and a wooden pot used by deity Krishna.
Besides, he has claimed to have the first printed Holy Bible, Holy Quran and Bhagavad Gita in his prayer room.
He also claimed to have India’s first typewriter, first telephone, the world’s first gramophone, first calculator, first sewing machine and first ceiling fan among other things.
His reported collection also includes Satya Sai Baba’s golden sandals, paintings by Raja Ravi Varma, Picasso and Leonardo da Vinci, and Swathi Thirunal’s veena.
What is the political fallout?
The Kerala Assembly on Tuesday witnessed trading of charges between the ruling and treasury benches over Monson Mavunkal.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that no one will be spared.
Vijayan added that the Archaeological Survey of India and DRDO have been asked to probe the validity of the antiques with Monson.
Certain sections of society have already called for a CBI inquiry. They have pointed out that a crime branch inquiry would not be helpful considering many senior police officials in Kerala are allegedly involved in the case.
Former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president V.M. Sudheeran on Saturday demanded a CBI inquiry into the case. He alleged that senior police officials had also been involved with Monson.
BJP General Secretary B. Gopalakrishnan said that visuals of police officers Behera and Abraham visiting the antique dealer at his Kochi 'museum' are in the public domain.
He alleged that complaints against the antique dealer had been lodged with the police since 2018, but no action was taken. Behera was the state police chief for the past five years, till he retired in June.
Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan said: "Vijayan has to break his silence as in the backdrop of LKS and using the links of the office of Vijayan, massive fraud was done.”
- With inputs from ANI, PTI and IANS
