Mumbai: Vashi police booked three persons for cheating scores of investors of Rs47 lakh on the pretext of doubling their investment in a ponzi scheme.
The complainant had invested Rs5.75 lakh in 2015, but when the accused kept delaying the returns, he approached police, only to learn that the accused were history-sheeters and had duped many people in the past using the same modus operandi.
In 2015, acquaintances of a life insurance agent, Kashinath Pilane, a resident of Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai, informed him about an investment company, Kalkaam Real Infra Pvt Ltd, which promises handsome returns on maturity.
In a greed to get high returns, Pilane visited the company's office in Bawa Towers, Vashi, where he was introduced to the company's bosses -- Sunil Vandre, Vijay Supekar and Vishnu Dalvi, who were business partners.
In the meeting, the trio lured him with various investment plans, where the buyer was to pay anywhere between Rs50,000 and Rs5 lakh, according to their capacity.
Pilane found a few investment plans interesting and invested Rs5.75 lakh in a series of transactions over the years for 39 months in December 2015, which was taken in his and his wife's name.
The trio had offered handsome returns after 39 months, and if failed, they were to give a plot worth their investment as a reimbursement. The Kalkaam Infra company was also associated with a hotel business, mine plotting and marketing, said police.
Over the period of three years or so, Pilane was in constant touch with Vandre, Supekar and Dalvi, which is why he never suspected a thing.
After 39 months, when Pilani approached the investment company to claim his returns, he was asked to wait for a little longer as they were expecting a cash flow from their mining deal. Pilani obliged and waited, while visiting the company's Vashi and Thane office several times to give them a reminder as well as get an update on the returns.
After several attempts resulted in Vandre, Supekar and Dalvi kept giving excuses and delaying the payment, Pilani decided to take matters in his own hands and approached Vashi Police to register a complaint.
Accordingly, a case was registered against the trio, who were booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for cheating (420) and common intention (34). Surprisingly, when Pilani went to the police, he realised that the trio had duped several others of Rs47 lakh using the same modus operandi.
An official from Vashi police station said, they are investigating the case and are yet to make arrests. All attempts to contact the company proved futile.
