He fashioned himself as a big-time venture capitalist who would woo single women using online dating sites and make his way into their lives - and into their wallets, police say.
A Toronto man arrested on fraud charges on Monday was an expert schmoozer who travelled across Canada and made $1.5-million by getting the women in his life, and their parents, to invest in his businesses, said Toronto Police fraud squad detective Tom Hartford.
Police allege that 49-year-old Arvind Kumar Sanmugam defrauded at least six people in schemes that date back to at least 2007.
Two women have even come forward and said they were engaged to Mr. Sanmugam, who dressed in expensive clothing to look the part of a top business executive, according to police.
The criminal investigation began with a complaint from a widowed senior in Vancouver, where Mr. Sanmugam lived for a short time.
The woman had met him while walking her grandkids to school, as he was walking two of his children, Det. Hartford said.
He would meet with her and talk about investments, at one point showing up in a Bentley with a driver.
The driver, Det. Hartford says, is one of the women who has said Mr. Sanmugam is her fiancé. She is currently in the Philippines scouting out business opportunities for him, Det. Hartford said.
"She's in total denial," he said.
The woman's father and stepmother, who live in Southern Ontario, say they invested between $140,000 and $160,000 with Mr. Sanmugam.
A Toronto doctor also came forward saying she was engaged to Mr. Sanmugam, Det. Hartford said. They met a year and a half ago on the popular online dating site eHarmony.com, he said, and Mr. Sanmugam seemed to be just what she was looking for - a South Asian businessman with whom she seemed to be compatible.
She persuaded her mother to invest with Mr. Sanmugam. The mother lent him nearly $330,000, Det. Hartford said.
"He went to town with the money," Det. Hartford alleged. "I think he actually tried to invest it in something. Anything he did gain from those investments, he kept."
The Vancouver woman lost so much that she had to sell her house and move into a rental apartment.
Mr. Sanmugam was charged with one count of fraud in May, said Det. Hartford, but he broke his bail conditions. Det. Hartford contacted his lawyer and arranged for Mr. Sanmugam to turn himself in to police at 51 Division on Monday morning.
He is now charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000, failure to comply, revocation of bail and criminal breach of trust.
His wife, whom he lives with, showed up with Mr. Sanmugam's current girlfriend in a downtown court on Monday afternoon , Det. Hartford said.
The complainants are from Montreal, Halifax and Vancouver, but police believe there to be more victims in Toronto and elsewhere in Canada.
The public needs to be aware of such fraud cases, he said, because people can be easily fooled by cunning con artists.
"If you want to make an investment, go to the bank," he said.