Delhi man arrested for defrauding neighbours of ₹50 lakh

Police said that a case was registered after 24 investors filed separate complaints with the EOW alleging similar cheating and fraud

Police on Friday said they had arrested a 40-year-old man who cheated over two dozen people, most of them in his neighbourhood, of over ₹50 lakh. At least 24 persons approached the economic offences wing (EOW) earlier this month after the man sold his house and fled with his family and the money he had been collecting since 2019, the police said.

A U.S. border patrol agent handcuffs a migrant woman after she was found hiding in thick brush after crossing the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico in La Joya, Texas, U.S., May 18, 2021. REUTERS/Adrees Latif (REUTERS)

The arrested man, identified as Mool Chand, lived in northeast Delhi’s Sonia Vihar. He was caught on Wednesday from northeast Delhi by a team of the EOW probing the cheating case filed in March this year, said additional commissioner of police (EOW) RK Singh.

Explaining his modus operandi, the additional CP said that Chand launched a chit-fund scheme in August, 2019, to collect easy money by targeting people in his neighbourhood. Chand floated a scheme where investors were asked to purchase 20 shares, each for ₹10,000, for 20 months. They were told that the collected money would be given as loans to loan-seekers on a fixed monthly interest rate. The interest amount collected was to be distributed among the investors after the scheme matured.

“Chand collected the monthly deposit in cash and maintained records of the investors and their respective shares. Some investors were given cheques as security against their investments. But when the scheme matured and the investors went to the bank to withdraw the money, the cheques bounced. As the investors started demanding their money back, Chand fled with his family,” said additional CP Singh.

Police said that a case was registered after 24 investors filed separate complaints with the EOW alleging similar cheating and fraud. During the probe, the name of a local politician also emerged as a co-conspirator. The police questioned the politician and it turned out that he too was duped by Chand, they said.

“Through technical investigation and human intelligence network, we collected information about the suspect and arrested him from northeast Delhi on Wednesday. Further probe is on,” said the additional CP.