Mumbai, February 27: The Malabar Hill police have booked a purported diamond broker for duping an octogenarian of Rs4 crore on the pretext of higher returns on investment and freeing his diamond consignments.
The complainant, 83-year-old Parmanand Patel, resides alone and has a US-based daughter. In November 2019, the accused, Aditya Jogani, met Patel during his morning walk at PDP Garden in Malabar Hill. Over the next weeks, they became good friends, following which Jogani introduced his wife Avni and also claimed to own a diamond business and good connections with the BJP. He gained Patel’s trust and convinced him to invest in his business.
Here's How Couple Duped The Victim
Between December 2020 and March 2021, Patel invested Rs52 lakh in Jogani’s company Nirvana India Group. In May 2021, Avni sought financial aid of Rs21 lakh from Patel to free her diamonds worth Rs80 crore from the Customs, which the elderly man transferred through RTGS.
Later, the couple sought a loan of Rs2.78 crore but Patel gave Rs2.45 crore. A few days later, the couple again sought help under the pretext of freeing their diamond consignment from the Customs and took Rs70 lakh.
Victim Was Threatened By Couple:
When Patel asked for his money back, the two started avoiding him. When he persisted, Jogani threatened to implicate his daughter in the US in some cases.
Patel then discovered that Jogani had earlier been arrested by the Economic Offences Wing in a fraud case wherein he had posed as the personal assistant of IAS officer Ajoy Mehta. Patel then contacted the Malabar Hill police and lodged an FIR against the couple. The matter is currently being investigated.
