Gurugram: ‘Ghost manufacturing firm’ dupes businesswoman of ₹6L, suspects booked

The manufacturing firm has registered its fake address in Jaipur, and there is a small tailoring shop at the location on which the firm’s address was registered, as per the government records

Gurugram: Police have booked several unidentified suspects for allegedly duping a businesswoman in Gurugram through a “ghost manufacturing firm”, police said on Monday.

The police said that an investigation is underway, and they are trying to nab the suspects at the earliest. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

The victim — Gunjan Sharma, 36 — who owns an electrical and electronic devices showroom in Gurugram’s Rajendra Park, allegedly ordered 100 light emitting diodes (LED) televisions (TVs) and 20 air conditioners (ACs) worth ₹12 lakh from the “ghost manufacturing firm” in April last year, said the police. She deposited ₹6 lakh in advance in a bank account as said by the firm before the delivery. However, the goods were not delivered on the pre-scheduled date, she alleged.

Sharma mentioned in the FIR that she submitted “an inquiry about the supply of the goods on a well-established online portal” along with her contact details on April 3, 2021. Soon, a suspect, posing as the owner of a manufacturing firm of electrical and electronic devices contacted her and said that his firm would deliver the said goods within a couple of days. She was asked to make an advance payment of ₹6 lakh in their bank account. The delivery date for the consignment was set at April 9, 2021, but when she tried to contact the manufacturer and its transporter for the same, their cellphones were found to be switched off, according to the police.

Despite several attempts, she failed to contact the manufacturer and the transporter. On April 10, 2021, Sharma sent a few employees to Rajasthan’s Jaipur as the firm had registered its address there.

“Before ordering the goods and making an advance payment, I verified the manufacturer’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) number and it seemed genuine... It had registered the similar Jaipur address. According to the fraudsters, they imported raw materials from China and manufactured LEDs and other electrical and electronic items in Jaipur,” Sharma said in the FIR.

After reaching Jaipur, my employees found a tailoring shop at the location of the said manufacturing unit. “The shop worker said that we were not the first ones to fall victim to the fraud. The tailor told them that several people from across the country had gone to the place in search of the fraudulent manufacturing firm. All of them were duped,” she said.

Sharma, who started the business two years ago, said, “I had ordered the items during the second Covid-19 wave, and I was unable to visit Jaipur and verify everything prior to ordering the goods because of the pandemic-induced lockdown,” she alleged.

It was revealed during the investigation that the ghost manufacturing firm had been duping businessmen from across India of hefty amounts, and Sharma was one of them, said the police.

The police said that there is a small tailoring shop at the location on which the manufacturing firm’s address was registered, as per the government records. The firm even had a GST number registered on the fake address to make it appear genuine, they added.

Based on Sharma’s complaint, a case has been registered against the unidentified suspects under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 34 (common intention), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust), and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) at the Rajendra Park police station on Sunday.

Inspector Parveen Kumar, station house officer (SHO) of Rajendra Park police station, said that the money deposited by Sharma in the manufacturer’s bank account was withdrawn from Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal, Indore, and other places. “The firm has registered its fake address in Jaipur,” he said.

An investigation is underway, and we are trying to nab the suspects at the earliest, Kumar added.