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The accused were identified as Rajan, Ulhas Nair and Joseph Mathew, who used to introduce himself as the chairman of J M Group, police said.
The trio duped the builder on the pretext of financing his housing project, Thane police spokesperson Sukhada Narkar said.
“The complainant is in the business of construction and required Rs 55 crore for a project. In July 2017 he came in contact with one of the accused through his acquaintance and started regularly interacting with him and others,” police said.
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“When the deal was being signed, they demanded Rs 55 lakh as ten per cent deposit against the loan. However, the complainant told them it not possible for him to pay that much. Thereafter, the builder demanded that the loan amount be reduced to Rs 20 crore. They agreed and accordingly asked him to pay Rs 20 lakh for it,” Narkar said.
The victim paid Rs 16 lakh to them and another Rs 2.16 lakh for registration and stamp duty, she said.
After some days, the trio told him they could only pay Rs 40 crore to him. In the beginning of 2018, they again told him that they cannot provide loan to him and that he would get his back soon, police said.
“The trio ignored the reminders and a legal notices, sent to them. When the victim tried to reach them at their office, he came to know that it has been shifted. He tried reaching them on phone, but failed to do so,” Narkar said.
The victim finally realised that he has been cheated and lodged a complaint with Varak Nagar police station. Based on his complaint, an FIR was registered against the trio on Friday.
The trio was booked under IPC section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property)
Further investigation into the case is on.