In 2013, a fraudulent solar energy company, Team Solar, in Kerala, India, used two women to create political contacts with links even to the Chief Minister's office, duped several influential people to the tune of 70 million Rupees, by offering to make them business partners, or by offering to install solar power units for them, and receiving advance payments for the same. Team Solar was unsuccessful in lobbying Kerala Govt to get include in ANERT programmes.
The Team Solar Energy Company (Team Solar), floated by the main accused Biju Radhakrishnan and Saritha. S. Nair, directors of the company, allegedly collected advance amounts from large number of people and investors by offering to make them business partners, or in the guise of installing alternate sources of energy and failed to deliver the goods. The company awarded a "Virgin Earth Golden Feather Environment Award" to several prominent people of Kerala to gain media coverage and credibility. The scam came to light when one of the customers who had paid for the installation filed a case against the company. The arrangement has defrauded several agencies and people to the tune of crores of rupees and at least one lady actor was used as "brand ambassador" to lure gullible people. There were widespread protests across the state, mainly by Leftist youth groups, after an interview with an industrialist was aired on television, which alleged fraud by the company. The incident drew much attention because most of those who lost big money were all influential people, the women allegedly involved fuelled the imagination/ jealousy of the depraved Malayali Media and the alleged involvement of three officials from the office of the Chief Minister of Kerala, Oommen Chandy, who made several phone calls to Saritha. It caused great embarrassment to Chandy, who faced demands for his resignation; two of the officials involved in phone conversation, lost their positions. The total amount involved in the scam, calculated on the basis of complaints, is less than ₹100 million (US$1.6 million) but the aggressive protests by Leftist political parties and the modus operandi used by the company has made the scam notorious.