The Mumbai Crime Branch unit 4 has arrested two persons for cheating a man of ₹6.13 lakh on the pretext of getting a loan of ₹20 lakh. The two have 14 similar cases registered against them in Navi Mumbai, Thane and Mumbai.
The accused – Bhalchandra Palav, 31, and Rohit Nagvekar, 37 – introduced themselves to the complainant from Wadala as office bearers of Vijaydeep Sahakari Patpedhi, Dahanu. They were absconding for the past six months and were caught after a trap was laid for them at a Palm Beach in Navi Mumbai. The duo evaded arrest by frequently changing locations.
Modus operandi of this scam
They resided at Talegaon, Pune, Rajapur, Ratnagiri, Thane, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. At each place they printed pamphlets inserted in newspapers to promote easy access to loans given by purported firms Aakriti Finance and Global Finance.
They posed as officials of the loan companies; while one of them collected the documents, the other visited people to verify the documents. While the loans were never disbursed, the duo collected hefty amounts as processing fees. After considerable collection, they changed the location and switched off their phones.
The FIR in this case was registered at Wadala Police Station, parallel investigation of which was being conducted by API Ajay Birajdar under the leadership of Police Inspector Incharge of Unit Four, Indrajit More. During investigation, the crime branch found that there is no organization called Vijaydeep Sahakari Patpedhi.
The crime branch official said that for the last four to five years, both of them rarely visited their homes. With the money earned by cheating, these people used to live in hotels or lodges.
