The Vice President and Secretary of Mumbai Nagrik Sahakari Patsanstha, a cooperative credit society, were apprehended on Wednesday night on charges of deceiving numerous depositors by promising substantial returns, resulting in embezzlement amounting to crores of rupees.
Details of arrest
Brothers Ashish Praveen Bhalerao and Amit Praveen Bhalerao, holding the positions of Vice President and Secretary respectively, were arrested after their anticipatory bail requests were denied by both the sessions court and the high court. Subsequently, one of the accused was apprehended in Saat Rasta and Fort area by investigator Sudarshan Chavan, who took action as the accused had switched off their mobiles and constantly changed locations following the denial of bail.
The investigation originated from a complaint filed by a 57-year-old woman in October 2023. The inquiry revealed an embezzlement of Rs 7 crore through the cooperative credit society. In response, the organization's committee is being dismissed, and administrative audits are being conducted.
FIR lodged
An FIR was lodged against committee members of Mumbai Nagrik Sahakari Patsanstha for failing to return funds to account holders. Two individuals have been arrested thus far, with ongoing investigations into eight others associated with the committee. The police officer disclosed that the cooperative credit society enticed individuals to invest in various schemes, promising lucrative profits, but failed to return the money to the account holders, affecting a total of 4000 individuals.
A police official said that in the month of October, a case was registered under sections 420 (fraud) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Maharashtra Protection of Depositors' Interests (in Financial Establishments) Act, 1999. Initially, when 3 victims contacted the police, the amount of cheating was Rs 1.41 crore but after investigation this amount has reached Rs 7 crore. The investigation of this matter is still going on.
