Mumbai: The Mumbai Crime Branch's Unit 3 has busted a gang involved in fraudulently acquiring high-end luxury vehicles on loan using fake documents and selling them in different states. The Unit 3 team arrested seven gang members from various states and seized 16 luxury cars worth ₹7.30 crore.
The arrested accused have been identified as Ravindra Dinanath Girkar alias Pradeep Ravindra Sharma (47), Manish Subhash Sharma (39), Syed Naved Syed Zulfikar Ali (52), Danish Rafiq Khan (32), Sainath Venkatesh Ganji (29), Yashkumar Sunil Kumar Jain (33), and Iman Abdul Wahid Khan alias Deva (38).
According to the police, the gang identified traders with high CIBIL scores and used forged documents to secure bank loans for expensive vehicles. They then tampered with chassis numbers before selling the cars at lower prices in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, and other states.
The accused were arrested from Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Kalyan, Dombivli, Thane, Bhiwandi, and Kurla. In 2023, an employee of Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Company, Kalpak Mhatre, filed a complaint at Park Site Police Station stating that fraudsters had secured loans using fake documents for Mahindra Thar vehicles. A case was registered under cheating and forgery sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Under the guidance of DCP Datta Nalawade, a special team led by Unit 3 Senior Inspector Sadanand Yerekar and other officers traced the mastermind, Ravindra Girkar, who confessed to the crime. Further investigations led to the arrest of the remaining gang members.
The gang created fake Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, RC books, MMRDA allotment letters, bank statements, and IT return files to fraudulently obtain car loans from various banks in Mumbai. They purchased high-end luxury cars, altered their chassis and engine numbers, and resold them in different states with duplicate RC books.
Additionally, they stole vehicles, modified their engine and chassis numbers, and illegally sold them in other states. The Mumbai Crime Branch has recovered 16 high-end cars from different states and is further investigating the involvement of other suspects in this multi-state fraud.
