A fraud involving the bogus procurement of iPhone 16 units worth Rs. 1,01 crore has come to light. 45-year-old CEO of Consolidated Pvt Ltd (which operates Maple), Mrityunjay Prasad Gupta, has reportedly been arrested by the Mumbai Police in the case. This is the fourth arrest in the ongoing investigation.
Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) arrested Gupta for orchestrating a scheme to defraud a prominent mobile trader by issuing false promises of bulk iPhone supplies and diverting the received funds for personal or unauthorised use. Gupta oversees key operational and financial decisions at the firm.
The scam came to light earlier this month when complainant Imran Merchant, a seasoned mobile accessories trader based in Mumbai, lodged a formal complaint with the authorities. Merchant had approached Maple in September to procure 150 units of the newly launched iPhone 16 at a discounted rate of Rs. 68,000 per unit, totaling over Rs 1 crore.
Times Of India reports, citing police sources, that Gupta and his associates allegedly created falsified business documents and assurances to lure Merchant into advancing the full payment, only to delay deliveries indefinitely and vanish with the money.
"This was a calculated betrayal of trust in the supply chain ecosystem," said a senior EOW officer involved in the probe, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Gupta exploited his executive position to mislead the victim, leading to substantial financial distress for a small-scale entrepreneur."
Following his arrest in Bengaluru, where he was reportedly hiding out, Gupta was swiftly transported to Mumbai. He was produced before the Mazgaon Metropolitan Magistrate's Court and remanded to 14 days of judicial custody as the investigation deepens. Authorities have seized digital records, including emails and transaction logs, from Maple's offices in Andheri, which they believe will reveal the full extent of the fund diversion.
Apart from Gupta, there are reported to be three others involved in this fraud - Sanjay Pradhan, a 61-year-old commission agent who acted as a middleman; Ibrahim Ansari, the manager of Maple's flagship store; and Deven Devda, a junior executive implicated in handling the fraudulent paperwork. All three remain in custody, and police are probing potential links to a wider network of similar procurement rackets targeting high-demand gadgets like the iPhone series.
The demand for the iPhone 16 continues to be on the rise, especially after its price cut post the iPhone 17 series launch.
