The Azad Maidan police have arrested two persons who allegedly tried to dupe a government liquidator appointed by the Bombay High Court in the multi-crore City Limousine scam. Through fake affidavits, the accused had claimed they had invested in the project.
The accused have been identified as Vikas Mhetre, 44, and Vilas Dalvi, 53, both from Sangli. Along with the government liquidator's staffers and another 24 people, they attempted to claim investments they had never made in the City Limousine scheme. The staffers - peons and a clerk - were arrested fake affidavits by the police after a complaint by the liquidator.
"We have arrested the accused and are on the lookout for more fake investors who were trying to make claim," a police officer said.
In 2007 and 2009, the Economic Offences Wing (EoW) had registered two cases against two City Group companies - City Limousine and City Realcom -- for allegedly duping over 70,000 people across the country by promising unrealistic returns on their investments. During the probe, EOW had arrested seven persons, including the firm's chairman, Sayed Masood.
In 2010, the Bombay High Court had ordered the appointment of a liquidator to attend to victims' claims. In 2012, Pankaj Shrivastav, the liquidator, had sent notices to 20,000 investors, asking them to produce documents to process their claims and get back the money.
According to the police, in July 2016, Ramdas Yadav, who is from Sangli, had sent a complaint to the liquidator's office against a clerk, Keshav Satputea, and peons Gopal Bagul and Santosh Chavan, all of whom worked there, alleging that they have been extorting money from him and 25 other investors for a year.
He said that under the law, they were supposed to file a claim from 2015, but the peons told them they would get more money by filing claims from 2013. Yadav had also claimed the peons and the clerk extorted a total of Rs 5.54 lakh from 26 investors to get the sanction letters required to pull off the con, but all of them did not get the sanction letters.
However, when the liquidator's office conducted an inquiry, they learnt that Yadav and the other 25 had never invested any money in the two schemes and had made false claims using fake affidavits - with the help of the accused clerk and peons.
Following this, Shrivastava filed a complaint with the Azad Maidan police, and the 26 fake victims and three staffers were booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy.
The accused have been identified as Vikas Mhetre, 44, and Vilas Dalvi, 53, both from Sangli. Along with the government liquidator's staffers and another 24 people, they attempted to claim investments they had never made in the City Limousine scheme. The staffers - peons and a clerk - were arrested fake affidavits by the police after a complaint by the liquidator.
"We have arrested the accused and are on the lookout for more fake investors who were trying to make claim," a police officer said.
In 2007 and 2009, the Economic Offences Wing (EoW) had registered two cases against two City Group companies - City Limousine and City Realcom -- for allegedly duping over 70,000 people across the country by promising unrealistic returns on their investments. During the probe, EOW had arrested seven persons, including the firm's chairman, Sayed Masood.
In 2010, the Bombay High Court had ordered the appointment of a liquidator to attend to victims' claims. In 2012, Pankaj Shrivastav, the liquidator, had sent notices to 20,000 investors, asking them to produce documents to process their claims and get back the money.
According to the police, in July 2016, Ramdas Yadav, who is from Sangli, had sent a complaint to the liquidator's office against a clerk, Keshav Satputea, and peons Gopal Bagul and Santosh Chavan, all of whom worked there, alleging that they have been extorting money from him and 25 other investors for a year.
He said that under the law, they were supposed to file a claim from 2015, but the peons told them they would get more money by filing claims from 2013. Yadav had also claimed the peons and the clerk extorted a total of Rs 5.54 lakh from 26 investors to get the sanction letters required to pull off the con, but all of them did not get the sanction letters.
However, when the liquidator's office conducted an inquiry, they learnt that Yadav and the other 25 had never invested any money in the two schemes and had made false claims using fake affidavits - with the help of the accused clerk and peons.
Following this, Shrivastava filed a complaint with the Azad Maidan police, and the 26 fake victims and three staffers were booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy.
