Mumbai: The Bandra police have booked three persons for allegedly cheating an investment banker working with ICICI Bank in Bandra of Rs9.44 crore in a student hostel project in Uttarakhand.
According to the police report filed on June 29, Pankaj Rajdhan, 54, resides in Juhu. In 2010, he met one of his colleagues, Shobhet Maleta, and later struck a friendship with him. Maleta told Rajdhan that he hails from Uttarakhand and that there is a lack of facilities for students who come to the hill state to study. He shared the business idea of starting a hostel, with a rider that only people hailing from the state can buy land.
In 2015, Maleta went back to Uttarakhand and Rajdhan agreed to the business idea, deciding to purchase land in Dehradun. It was decided that Rajdhan would invest in the deal and Maleta would handle all the work. Rajdhan issued cheques from his HDFC bank account to Maleta’s HDFC bank account to buy land. In 2016, they started ‘IndeCampus Student Accommodation DD-1 Private Ltd’, with Maleta and one Ramesh Mulashi.
To fulfil a certain shortfall in funds, Rajdhan took a Rs8.29 crore loan in the company’s name from IndiaBulls as a guarantor. In 2018, the hostel construction was completed and admission process started a year later. Trusting Maleta with all administrative work, Rajdhan never asked about the company’s transactions.
In 2021, the hostel was closed due to the pandemic. When it reopened, Rajdhan sought financial details but Maleta avoided him. When Rajdhan sent three chartered accountants for company audit, it was found that half the documents were allegedly forged. The auditors also discovered that the students’ fees were not deposited in the company account but in the name of one Naval Pant, who further transferred the money to Maleta’s private account.
Further probe revealed that Maleta and Mulashi had opened an account with almost the same name as the company in Yes Bank to collect students’ fees. Maleta and Mulashi also received some amounts in cash from the students.
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