A Chembur-based family was cheated by an alleged broker who had assured them to provide a plot at Raigad's Mangaon area. The family had paid Rs. 25.5 lakhs to him since 2020 for the plot. The complainant in the case, Kanchan Max Thomas Simon (56), a resident of Chembur, approached the RCF police on Saturday. Her husband, Mr Thomas, works in Muscat, Oman. The couple in 2020 were looking for properties in Mumbai and surrounding areas, and for the same, they wanted a good broker/agent to help them out. One of Mr Thomas’ colleagues suggested and introduced them to a man named Azharuddin Sayyed Kurukkar, who is a resident of Mangaon, in Raigad.
The couple contacted Kurukkar, who then said there was some land available in the Mangaon area, and in November 2020, he visited their residence to show pictures of the plot. The couple who liked the plot wanted to check the land first before buying it. Ms Kanchan, along with her relatives named Sheela and Prabhakaran Nair went to Mangaon, they liked the plot and verified the documents after which a deal was made between the family and Kurukkar of Rs. 24 lakhs.
It all began in December 2020
Kanchan in her statement to the police alleges that from December 2020, she started paying Kurukkar via cheque and online transactions to his and his wife Arshiya’s bank accounts – a total of Rs. 25.5 lakhs (including brokerage, tax, etc). The deal was that Kurukkar would assist the family to buy the plot, which he kept delaying, said Kanchan, despite the family reminding him repeatedly.
In July 2022, Kurukkar visited the couple’s residence where he made an agreement that said he would provide Rs. 9.30 lakhs, and with the remaining balance i.e., Rs. 16.20 lakhs, he said, he would buy a property land for the family. Subsequently, he gave the family 8 cheques of Rs. 1.5 lakhs from his wife’s bank account and 1 cheque of Rs. 90,000.
Except for three cheques, all of them bounced, said Kanchan, and they got only Rs. 3.15 lakhs. They contacted Kurukkar again, but all failed, which is when they realized they were duped by Kurukkar. Out of the 25.5 lakhs the family provided, they recovered only Rs. 3.15 lakhs, hence a total sum of Rs. 22.35 lakhs is yet to be recovered. A case of cheating and criminal breach of trust has been registered against the Kurukkar couple by the RCF police, and a probe has been initiated.
