Close X
Monday, November 25, 2024
ADVT 
India

Multi-crore rupees scam: Punjab cops nab fugitive Mumbai fraudster's dad from Gujarat

Darpan News Desk IANS, 06 Dec, 2023 05:37 PM
  • Multi-crore rupees scam: Punjab cops nab fugitive Mumbai fraudster's dad from Gujarat

Chandigarh/Mumbai, Dec 6 (IANS) In a fresh twist, the Punjab Police have arrested Shailesh Mehta – the father of absconding Mumbai scamsters Ashesh Mehta and his wife Shivangi Lad-Mehta – in a new fraud case registered by the SAS Nagar Police, an official said on Wednesday.

According to Sohana Police (formerly, Mohali) official Mukesh Sinha, the accused Shailesh Mehta, 71, was nabbed from his purported hideout at an old-age home in Ahmedabad following a FIR registered after a complaint lodged by Punjab businessman Viresh Singhal.

"We have arrested the accused (Shailesh Mehta) last Saturday and brought him to Punjab. A local Magistrate has remanded him to police custody for four days and further investigations are on," Sinha told IANS.

Incidentally, the Mehta family is now under the radar of the police of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and now Punjab, with the possibility of more complaints of cheating of investors surfacing from other parts of the country, official sources in Mumbai said.

Singhal, 78, had lodged a complaint of cheating against Shailesh Mehta and his son Ashesh Mehta (who is untraceable along with his wife Shivangi, since over six months from Mumbai), by luring him to invest Rs 1.20 crore in their 'Bliss Consultants Trading Co' in the past three years, on the promise of huge profits.

However, when Singhal wanted to exit from the company last June, he encountered serious problems withdrawing his investments plus profits, and later the accused were not available.

Suspecting something fishy, Singhal finally lodged a complaint with Sohana Police in November, which sent a team to Mumbai for probe but returned empty-handed, and subsequently traced the accused in Ahmedabad.

Ruling Shiv Sena Spokesperson Krishna Hegde said in Mumbai that the Mehtas' (above) company has allegedly cheated more than 4,000 gullible investors of thousands of crores of rupees in the past few years, and then Ashesh and Shivangi Mehta fled from Mumbai.

"I had complained to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in July and he ordered a detailed probe into the matter. In September, the Mumbai Police have frozen five residential properties and 11 bank accounts of the fugitive couple and their companies, totalling an estimated Rs 175 crore," Hegde told IANS.

He rued that though the Mumbai Police seemed to have done nothing in the matter, the Punjab Police has managed to nab one of the family members of the accused Mehta couple.

The lid blew off the scam – which was prominently highlighted by IANS in June-July – after suspicious withdrawals-transfers of huge amounts of around Rs 180 crore to multiple accounts of the scamster couple's associates or other entities, all of which are being probed. The Shivpuri Police Station in Madhya Pradesh, stumbled onto the scam they were probing a narcotics case there linked with the Mehta couple, and other frauds of money-laundering, illegal ponzi schemes, gypping investors and common masses tumbled out, estimated to be over Rs 1,000-crore.

Police teams from Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab have done multiple rounds of the Mehta couple's home in a posh society in Goregaon where they were last seen over six months ago.

In July, both Mumbai and Madhya Pradesh Police had issued Look Out Circulars against the couple but they remain untraced and investigators apprehend the duo may have sneaked out of the country to an unknown location.

MORE India ARTICLES

V-P Dhankhar, LS Speaker extend Teachers' Day greetings

V-P Dhankhar, LS Speaker extend Teachers' Day greetings
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Om Birla on Tuesday extended their wishes to the teaching fraternity on the occasion of the Teachers' Day, while lauding their commitment towards moulding young minds. 

V-P Dhankhar, LS Speaker extend Teachers' Day greetings

'Union of States under assault': Cong attacks Centre after 'Prez of Bharat' G20 invite

'Union of States under assault': Cong attacks Centre after 'Prez of Bharat' G20 invite
Congress on Tuesday attacked the government after the Rashtrapati Bhawan (President House) sent out invites for a G20 dinner of September 9 in the name of ‘President of Bharat’ instead ‘President of India’ saying now even this ‘Union of States’ is under assault. Congress also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that he can continue to distort history and divide India, that is Bharat, that is a Union of States but we will not be deterred.

'Union of States under assault': Cong attacks Centre after 'Prez of Bharat' G20 invite

Punjab to go for massive recruitment of teachers: Mann

Punjab to go for massive recruitment of teachers: Mann
The Chief Minister, while addressing the gathering during a state-level function to mark Teacher’s Day, said a large number of posts are lying vacant in the Education Department due to which studies are being affected. 

Punjab to go for massive recruitment of teachers: Mann

Punjab's 44 village-level defence committees to dismantle drug supply

Punjab's 44 village-level defence committees to dismantle drug supply
Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Tuesday convened a meeting with 44 village-level defence committees (VLDCs) in Pathankot to devise a strategy to dismantle the drug supply network and curb drug smuggling. VLDCs, which act as 'eyes and ears' of security forces, plays a vital role on ground in getting real-time information leading to disruption of drug networks. 

Punjab's 44 village-level defence committees to dismantle drug supply

Punjab tender scam case: ED seizes gold valued at 2.12 cr

Punjab tender scam case: ED seizes gold valued at 2.12 cr
ED had carried out search operations on August 24 at the residential premises of Bharat Bhushan Ashu, ex-minister of food and civil supplies, Punjab and his associates at 25 locations at Ludhiana, Mohali, Nawanshahr, Jalandhar and Amritsar in Punjab.

Punjab tender scam case: ED seizes gold valued at 2.12 cr

Guwahati: Fake doctor practising for 10 years arrested

Guwahati: Fake doctor practising for 10 years arrested
Assam Police have arrested a fake physician who was practising in the Jyotikuchi neighborhood of Guwahati for the past 10 years, officials said on Tuesday. A senior police officer said that the arrested person has been identified as Paresh Chakraborty, who allegedly treated patients at his fictitious clinic 'Charu Lakshmi Ayush Medical Pharmacy' at Shankar Hotel in the Jyotikuchi area.

Guwahati: Fake doctor practising for 10 years arrested