Businessman Duped of Rs 23 Crore by 3 Men in Mumbai; FIR Filed

Mumbai: Police have registered an FIR against three people for allegedly duping a Mumbai businessman of Rs 23 crore on the pretext of providing bank no objection certificates (NOCs) to him after clearing dues, an official said on Tuesday.

According to the Dahisar police station official, the complainant in the case, Manohar Govind Sakpal (58), is into transport business and owned 117 buses.

He hired three individuals Vaibhav Ravindra Kumar Sharma, Jitendra Gullu Thadani and Sunil Gullu Thadani and asked them to sell his buses taken on loans from banks. The businessman assigned them the task of selling his buses, clearing bank dues and getting NOCs from the lenders after doing a one-time settlement, the official said.

The trio signed an agreement with Sakpal to sell his buses and complete a one-time settlement with banks. They took Rs 23 crore from the transporter to do the job, but did not complete it, he said.

When Sakpal asked the trio about the task, they failed to give satisfactory answers and also did not return the money taken from him, according to the official.

Later, the businessman approached the Mumbai police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) and filed a complaint, based on which an FIR was registered on Monday at the Dahisar police station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including cheating, against the trio, he said.

The EOW has launched a probe and making efforts to nab the accused, the official added.