Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against a fraudster who duped a businessman of ₹3.93 crore by posing as an officer of the Intelligence Department. Aditya Ashok Jogani, a diamond merchant, has been arrested in connection with the case. The EOW has previously registered 15 cases against Jogani.
In 2018, the complainant, Santosh Bendre, a liaison and legal advisor to big companies, was contacted by Ajay Dave who claimed to be the personal assistant of Ajoy Mehta and appeared as a nearly 70-year-old with white hair and beard when the two met in Mumbai. He presented himself as a government official with significant influence and introduced the complainant to Jogani, telling him to contact Jogani for any money transactions.
Delay in repaying loan
Bendre required help for getting a friend’s daughter admission in a college and approached Dave, who took ₹6 lakh as fee and an additional ₹10 lakh, promising to return it after the completion of the course. However, Dave did not return the promised amount. During the March 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Dave demanded ₹2 crore from Bendre for party funds, promising to relinquish his government work in return. Bendre paid ₹1.59 crore to Dave through a check and cash. From 2018 to 2022, the accused had taken a total of ₹3.93 crore from Bendre, who eventually discovered that Jogani and Dave were the same person, and that Jogani had been using a disguised voice to communicate with him.
Accused arrested twice in cheating cases
Jogani has been arrested thrice before in cheating cases and has taken anticipatory bail in some cases. He was arrested from the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) on Wednesday and presented in court on Thursday, where he was remanded to police custody until Monday. The police are on the lookout for the person who met Bendre posing as Ajay Dave, a 70-year-old personal assistant of former municipal commissioner of Mumbai Ajoy Mehta.
