Mumbai: Former legislator and Shiv Sena leader Krishna Hegde met Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday to hand over a letter concerning a multi-crore fraud case involving a Mumbai couple and to explain the plight of thousands of investors affected by it. Hegde urged the chief minister to issue a Look Out Notice (LOC) against Ashesh Mehta and Shivangi Lad Mehta to prevent them from fleeing the country.
According to Hegde, the CM spoke with Special Commissioner of Police, Mumbai, Deven Bharti, and asked him to initiate an LOC against the Mehtas. In his letter, Hegde claimed that the couple had orchestrated a scam amounting to more than ₹1,000 crore.
The police are currently investigating the case, and an amount of more than ₹165 crore belonging to the Mehtas has been frozen.
What had transpired
On June 26, Hegde had filed an FIR at the Amboli Police Station against the Mehtas for their alleged fraudulent activities. As per the FIR, the couple launched an app called ‘DIFM’ and solicited investments in their company Bliss Consultants through the platform, eventually deceiving numerous investors of crores of rupees. Bliss Consultants, a Goregaon East-based stock broking firm, assured investors of 2.5% profit per month. According to sources, Bliss Consultants was not a Securities and Exchange Board of India-registered portfolio management services or alternative investment fund company.
“The police have approached Kotak Bank and also Zerodha, the trading platform in Bengaluru that the Mehtas were using. They have managed to freeze ₹160 crore in Kotak Bank and ₹4.95 crore in Zerodha,” Hegde said. “Several of their accomplices are also under scrutiny, and more actions will be taken.”
The Mehtas are also alleged to be involved in a Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, case in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh. A court has rejected their bail in the case. “Investors across the country have invested thousands of crores of their hard-earned money with this couple,” Hegde said.
The Mumbai Police has registered a case Sections 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, according to the former legislator.
