The multi-crore scam dates back to 2007, when the economic offences wing (EOW) filed cases against City Group companies – City Limouzines, City Realcom and City Hospitalities – for allegedly duping at least 70,000 people.
Fifteen years after losing Rs. 2.9 lakh to the City Limouzines scam, Goregaon resident Ashok Khandekar and thousands of others are now hoping to get back their money. A special court recently made the attachment of 19 properties, 10 bank accounts and six high-end luxurious cars in the case absolute. This means they can now be sold to help those cheated recover their money.
The multi-crore scam dates back to 2007, when the economic offences wing (EOW) filed cases against City Group companies – City Limouzines, City Realcom and City Hospitalities – for allegedly duping at least 70,000 people, promising unrealistic returns and limousines on their investments. The forensic audit of City Limouzines showed that 79,146 people from Mumbai had invested in various schemes launched by the company, but the EOW got only 65,000 complaints.
The report suggests that investors from the city alone had put in around Rs. 980 crore in the company and the firm was liable to pay around Rs. 2,885 crore to them. A total of 132 cases have been registered across the country. The Apex court on May 5, 2015 transferred all cases to special MPID and PMLA Court in Mumbai.
Recounting the ordeal, Khandekar said he was drawn in by the possibility of earning profits on an investment and getting a car in return. “I learned about the scheme through a newspaper advertisement in 2002. It said we would get a car on a down payment of Rs. 1.5 lakh, and by paying monthly instalments of Rs. 5,000 for four years. The condition was the car would be used by the company for four to five years, but we would get the ownership,” he said.
He said he got a car in 2004, but it was registered in the name of the trustee or director of the company. In 2005, he got a call from the police stating the car was stolen. This was the beginning of the fall of the Limouzine Empire. “We believed in the scheme as initially they refunded money and some from our locality also got a car. But later, something went wrong. Nobody got their money back. I approached the police also,” he said.
Khandekar is now listed as one of the victims of the scheme and is among the witnesses mentioned in the charge sheet filed by the EOW. “Initially I fought with the help of my lawyer, but later I decided to move on,” Khandekar said.
The order making the attachment absolute was passed in January, but its copy was made available to the authorities last week. The competent authority will now begin the process of recovery of money from the properties through auction. “Our first aim is to return the money to investors. After the order, the competent authority will dispose of the properties and the collected money will be distributed among investors,” said Umeshchandra Yadav Patil, special public prosecutor representing EOW of the Mumbai police.
