The BKC police have registered an FIR against a man, a partner of a BKC-based diamond trading firm, for allegedly cheating multiple diamond merchants of diamonds worth Rs 5.13 crore. The accused, Chirag Patel, works for the firm named Akruti Impex.
According to the complaint filed by Brahmna Diamonds through a sales manager, Ashish Godhani, 32, who resides in Vile Parle East, the accused, Patel, took 7,772.23 carats of diamonds from various merchants on the pretext of showing them to potential buyers, but neither returned the stones nor made payments.
Godhani stated in the FIR that Patel – known to him for seven years – first visited their office on April 1 with a broker named Kishor. He took 616.79 carats worth Rs41.74 lakh, promising to close the deal in a week. On April 3 and 4, Patel collected more diamonds – 932.39 carats (Rs62.46 lakh) and 416.79 carats (Rs27.98 lakh) – each time assuring timely payments.
When follow-up attempts failed and Patel became unreachable, Godhani made market inquiries and learned that three other merchants – Batukbhai Bhikadia, Hareshbhai Tawetia, and Vishal Gandhi – had also been duped in a similar fashion. In total, Patel is accused of defrauding all four merchants of worth Rs5.13 crore.
Police have booked Patel under Sections 316(5) (criminal breach of trust) and 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
