Mumbai: The Kanjurmarg police have registered a case against Lalit Hathi, 55, a resident of Kandivali’s Charkop area, for allegedly running an illegal moneylending business and cheating a woman by selling her pledged gold ornaments without consent.
Loan Agreement Details
According to the FIR, the complainant, Anushka Amit Utekar, 31, a resident of Bhandup East, had borrowed Rs20 lakh from Hathi at an interest rate of 1.25 per cent per month despite him not possessing a valid moneylending licence. In exchange, she was allegedly forced to pledge gold ornaments weighing 44.8 tolas (net weight), valued at approximately Rs25 lakh. The accused later sold the pledged gold without her permission, police said.
Utekar lives with her family on M.D. Keny Road, Bhandup East, and works as a distributor for Patanjali Foods Limited. In January 2024, she received a GST audit notice related to her business and urgently needed funds to resolve the issue. As she could not raise the required amount from relatives or friends, Patanjali’s zonal manager Avnish Pandey introduced her to Hathi over the phone.
Loan Agreement Details
Hathi allegedly told her that he would lend money only against pledged gold. As per the agreement, Utekar was to receive Rs20 lakh against 40–45 tolas of gold at 1.25 per cent monthly interest, amounting to Rs25,000 per month. Trusting Hathi, who was also associated with Patanjali as a distributor, she did not execute any formal written agreement.
On January 10, 2024, Utekar, accompanied by Pandey, went to Hathi’s shop in Charkop and pledged around 30 tolas of gold (net weight 27.8 tolas), for which she received Rs15 lakh. Hathi allegedly asked her to bring additional gold to receive the remaining amount. On January 15, she pledged another 18.1 tolas of gold and received the balance Rs5 lakh.
Utekar paid the monthly interest in cash until August 2024. However, after her husband Amit met with an accident in September, she was unable to pay interest for the next five months. During this period, Hathi allegedly began threatening her over the phone, stating that he would sell the pledged gold.
Unauthorized Sale of Gold
In January 2025, when Utekar contacted Hathi to inform him that she would repay the loan and redeem her ornaments, he allegedly avoided her calls. On January 20, Hathi informed her that the pledged gold ornaments had already been sold and suggested that new ornaments could be made instead.
When Utekar informed Avnish Pandey, he too was told by Hathi that the gold had been sold. This confirmed her suspicion that the accused had dishonestly disposed of the pledged property. She later discovered that Hathi did not have a valid licence to conduct a moneylending business.
Based on her complaint, the Kanjurmarg police have registered a case under Section 39 of the Maharashtra Money-Lending (Regulation) Act and Section 316(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act, for cheating and criminal misappropriation. Further investigation is underway.
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