Mumbai: The Kherwadi police have registered a case against a man for duping a retired Sales Tax Officer of ₹15 lakhs in a home fraud scheme. The man falsely claimed to have a company with a tie-up with Saraswat Co-operative Bank. The bank obtained flats from owners who failed to pay equated monthly installments (EMI), and the man’s company auctioned these flats. Based on this false information, he took the money from the retired officer.
According to the police, the complainant Rajesh Bankar, 59, a resident of Goregaon West, was in search of a house. In October 2020, he went to his relative’s house, where he met Sanjay Shinde from Ghansoli, New Mumbai, a neighbour of his relatives. Shinde claimed that he had a company named M/S SS Enterprises, which was involved with Saraswat Co-operative banks in acquiring flats from owners failing to pay EMIs. These flats, according to Shinde, were auctioned by his company. Shinde claimed to own a flat in Siddhi Kanchan Vinayak Apartment, Bangur Link Road in Goregaon West, which the bank had obtained from Rina Shah, a defaulter, and was available for ₹40 lakh.
Bank notice pasted on the door
Bankar sent his son-in-law to inspect the flat along with Shinde. The son-in-law found the flat closed with bank a notice bearing Rina Shah’s name pasted on the door. Despite this, trusting in Shinde’s assurances, Bankar decided to purchase the flat and proceeded to finalise the deal. Shinde instructed him to pay an initial ₹15 lakhs, providing a form to fill out and asking for ₹4,500 for processing, which Bankar duly followed on November 23, 2020.
On November 25, 2020, Shinde contacted Bankar, demanding payment. The complainant transferred ₹10 lakh to Shinde’s Axis bank account in two transactions from his Bank of Maharashtra account. When Bankar inquired about the remaining amount, Shinde replied he would inform him later. In July 2021, Shinde contacted Bankar, claiming the auction was imminent and insisting on more money. Bankar transferred ₹10,000 via Gpay to Shinde's Company account and the remaining ₹4,90,000 online to Shinde’s Axis bank account, totalling of ₹15 lakhs.
Shinde avoids Bankar
Subsequently, Shinde never met Bankar and avoided meeting. Whenever Bankar asked for meetings he avoided or provided the wrong address for meetings. Shine had not handed over a single document to Bankar. Bankar visited Shinde’s house at Ghansoli and Shinde gave him a cheque of ₹50,000, which was bounced.
Eventually, Bankar filed a case against Shinde under sections 406 (breach of trust), and 420 (cheating and dishonestly) of the Indian Penal Code.
