Five booked over investment frauds in Navi Mumbai

The Navi Mumbai police has booked five persons for allegedly cheating several people after promising ldquounsustainablerdquo returns on their investment an official said on FridayThe accused claimed that they belonged to a company named ldquoSPVSrdquo and asked the victims to indulge in ldquoshare tradingrdquo through them the official saidThe accused promised to double the money in a year if a client invested Rs 1 lakh besides selling many other ldquoattractiverdquo schemes that the police said were ldquounsustainablerdquo newswire PTI reportedHowever the investors did not get any returns even after paying huge sums he saidActing on several complaints the newly established Financial Intelligence Unit of the Navi Mumbai police registered a case against Sachin Dongre Vikas Nikam Bhagwan Kondalkar Deepali Kondalkar and Sagar Borate under the Indian Penal Code for cheating and the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors In Financial Establishments ActThe companys offices at Vashi and Mhape were found to be locked he addedIn a separate incident a 46yearold man from Navi Mumbai lost about Rs 19 lakh after fraudsters lured him with high returns on ldquoshare tradingrdquo an official said on FridayIn his police complaint Kharghar resident Suresh Babu Eroth Kunhikannan Nayar said four individuals had been in touch with him for the past few months over some investment plansNayar told the police that the accused coaxed him to invest Rs 1936 lakh through some ldquoshare tradingrdquo business promising irresistible returnsHowever Nayar did not get any returns after he paid the money He realised he had been duped when the accused gave evasive repliesSenior inspector Gajanan Kadam of the Cyber police station said they have registered a case under the Indian Penal Code for cheating and the Information Technology ActMeanwhile the police has registered two cases for illegal electricity consumption in different parts of Navi Mumbai an official said on FridayThe power thefts were reported in the Panvel and Khandeshwar areas he saidA case was registered under the Indian Electricity Act 2003 against Meghnath Mhatre the owner of a stone quarry in Panvel who allegedly stole electricity worth Rs 626 lakh over one year the official saidThe accused allegedly directly tapped into the Maharashtra State Electricity Boards MSEB supply line for operations at his unit he saidThe official said a separate case was registered against Mhatre and his associate Firoz Sheikh for stealing electricity worth Rs 148 lakh in KhandeshwarNo arrests have been made so far and an investigation is underway to ascertain the extent of the illegal consumption he added With inputs from agencies