Investors hope to recover money

Thane Police’s economic offences wing (EOW) has seized 26 properties, five four-wheelers, two two-wheelers as well as nine bank accounts as part of its investigation

Thane Police’s economic offences wing (EOW) has seized 26 properties, five four-wheelers, two two-wheelers as well as nine bank accounts as part of its investigation into the ₹25-crore fraud allegedly carried out by brothers Sunilkumar Mohanan Akkarakaran and Sudheerkumar Mohanan Akkarakaran. The accused brothers were arrested on Friday afternoon.

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The seized properties include Goodwin Jewellers’ showrooms as well as flats, bungalows, a farmhouse, mutual funds, and shares. The seized assets are worth ₹200 crore.

“Further investigation will reveal more about how they [the owners] planned everything before absconding,” said Sanjay Jadhav, deputy commissioner, EOW, Thane Police.

With the arrest of the two brothers, investors are hopeful of recovering their hard-earned money.

Goodwin Jewellers ran informal investment schemes with lucrative interest rates, which many put their savings in, hoping for high returns. When Goodwin Jewellers shut shop without warning in October, investors feared they’d lost their savings.

“This comes as a hope for all the investors who were clueless if they will get their invested money back. We will now have to wait for the case to progress and let the law to take its course. We believe in the police machinery,” said Murali Pillai, a Pune-based investor whose family invested ₹14 lakh with Goodwin Jewellers.

Rakesh Mishra, 39, an investor who deposited ₹40 lakh, said, “We have been waiting for this day. Thousands of investors who have cried all these days will now be relieved to know about the arrest of the duo.”