A businesswoman and her relatives were duped of over ₹9 crore by a woman and her associates on the pretext of giving them gold at cheaper rate auctioned by customs department at Mumbai airport.
According to the FIR, Nutan Ayare (50) a businesswoman from Andheri West and Swati Jawkar had known each other since 2014. In January 2023, Swati introduced Shweta Budgujar and her brother to Nutan who claimed to be advocates practicing in session and Bombay High Court respectively. Over time, Nutan and Shweta became friends and shared personal information too.
‘Cheap Gold’ Offer
Later, Shweta told Nutan that her elder brother, Piyush Pradhan and his acquaintance Madhavi work as customs officers at Mumbai airport and explained that the customs department would auction seized items, including gold at a lower price. Nutan believed this and took a loan from a bank and sent money to Shweta in return for gold. Shweta had now gained Nutan’s trust.
Shweta again asked Nutan to purchase gold at a lower price but this time she kept a condition that the transaction could only be done in cash. Relying on the previous deal and trusting Shweta, she handed over ₹1 crore 84 lakh in cash to her. Soon after this, Shweta told her that the customs office would auction three gold bricks, each weighing 10 kgs, but this time she needed to collect ₹15 crore and promised her that she would receive a huge profit. Lured by this offer, Nutan reached out to her relatives and acquaintances who also agreed to purchase the gold bricks and handed over ₹9, 86, 50,000 to Shweta and her associates.
However, unlike before, this time they did not receive any gold. When Nutan and her relatives asked Shweta to return their money, she threatened them that she will commit suicide and implicate them in the matter. She also threatened them that she would get them involved in drug-related matters. Eventually, Nutan filed a case against four individuals for allegedly cheating many people of approximately ₹10 crore. The case was filed under sections 170 (personating a public servant), 34 (act done for common intention), 420(cheating and dishonestly), and 506 (intimidation) of the IPC Act at D.N. Nagar police station on October 12 against Shweta Badgujar, Akshay Desai, Darshan Desai, and Swati Jawkar.
