Mumbai News: 7 Including A Businesswoman Fall Prey To Cheap Gold Ruse, Lose ₹10 Cr; 4 Booked For Fraud

Mumbai: The Andheri police have booked a woman for duping a businesswoman and six others of Rs10 crore on the false pretext of selling gold and other items auctioned at a lower price by the Customs department. The accused, Shweta Badgujar, a resident of Andheri, introduced herself as a public prosecutor and claimed that while one of her brothers was a senior customs officer, the other brother was a public prosecutor at the Bombay High Court.

Badgujar has been booked for personating a public servant, cheating and intimidation under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. Three others, identified as Akshay Desai, Darshan Desai and Swati Jawkar, have also been booked for aiding the fraud.

Details On The Fraud

According to the FIR, the businesswoman from Andheri West, Nutan Ayare, 50, knew Jawkar, a homemaker, since 2014. A resident of Parel, Jawkar often visited Ayare and introduced her to Badgujar this year in January. As the two became friends over a period of time, Ayare shared personal details with Badgujar, who gained the former’s trust by selling her gold auctioned by the Customs at a lower price. For this Ayare took a bank loan.

For the next deal of three gold bricks weighing 10kg each, Badgujar sought money in cash. Promising a total profit of Rs 15 crore, she asked Ayare to mobilise other family and friends as well. Gradually, Ayare paid her Rs 1.84 crore and encouraged her acquaintances to invest Rs 7.95 crore. However, when there was no delivery of gold, Ayare and others demanded that their money be returned. At this point, Badgujar began threatening the group and claimed she would die by suicide and implicate them all. She also threatened to name them in narcotic smuggling cases.