A businessman intending to venture into gold bullion trading with his partner lost Rs 80 lakh after his friend, who had been entrusted with the funds, ran away with the money.
The complainant, Ganpat Mehta, 33, had collected funds amounting to Rs 27.33 lakh to establish a new office for the gold bullion trading business. Prior to a trip to Ahmedabad for important work, Mehta handed over the collected sum to his friend, Tulsi Sharma, for safekeeping. Meanwhile, an additional amount of Rs 42.75 lakh arrived through Mehta's partner, Madhusudan Joshi, which Mehta also entrusted to Sharma.
Furthermore, Mehta received an additional Rs 9.90 lakh from another friend, which was also entrusted to the accused. Consequently, a total of Rs 80 lakh was placed in Sharma's care.
Upon Mehta's return to Mumbai from Ahmedabad, he discovered that Sharma was untraceable and gone incommunicado. He visited his residence but received information of his whereabouts. Following the registration of a complaint at the Lokmanya Tilak Marg police, a case was registered under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and police have launched a probe. A police officer revealed that Mehta had known the accused for several years and had faith in him, ultimately leading to his decision of giving him the funds to safeguard.
