3 directors of construction firm booked for duping investors of ₹13.31 crore
Mumbai: A 36-year-old businesswoman from South Mumbai and 11 others have lodged a complaint with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police, alleging that three directors of a construction company duped them to the tune of ₹13
Mumbai: A 36-year-old businesswoman from South Mumbai and 11 others have lodged a complaint with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police, alleging that three directors of a construction company duped them to the tune of ₹13.31 crore.
The EOW registered an FIR on Friday, raided the accused’s office and residential premises, and seized important documents.
The complainant in the case, Mrunalini Punit Chandra-Goyal, is a Carmichael Road, Malabar Hill resident. Goyal runs a website for online education classes while her husband is in gas energy business.
In her complaint to the police, Goyal said that in 2014 a broker, Aditya Sakseriya, introduced Goyal, her husband and in-laws to the accused - Bhagwan Ramchandra Bhattad and his family at a function. Bhattad told the Goyal family that his family was into construction and event management and that they were looking for investors for their construction business and offered good returns.
When Goyal and her husband visited Bhattad’s office, he and his family members informed the couple that their group had around 20 companies and offered them 12% annual interest on the investment made in their group companies. The company would pay the interest on a monthly basis and after a year the company would return the entire principal amount, stated the FIR (of which HT has a copy).
Convinced, the Goyal family initially invested some money and received promised returns between 2014 and 2017. Later, Goyal informed her parents and relatives about the profitable investment schemes and encouraged them to invest too.
Till 2017 the investors regularly got their interest and kept on reinvesting Bhattad’s group companies and earning profit. But after 2018 the accused started defaulting in repayment and giving excuses such as they had not received payments from their clients etc. When Goyal and other investors insisted on repayment, Bhattad family issued 41 cheques, all of which came to be dis-honoured for lack of sufficient funds, Goyal stated in her statement to the police.
When Goyals approached the police, Bhattad promised to settle the matter and issue fresh cheques, but he kept on delaying the matter citing Covid induced pandemic after investors rigorously pursued the matter, Bhattad signed terms laying down a repayment schedule, but did not fulfil his promises.
Like Goyal and Chandra family Bhattad allegedly defrauded investors Pushpa Ashok B, Sanjay Sariya, Ajay Sariya, Anil Radheshyam Chokhani. From Chokhani, Bhattad had allegedly accepted ₹1 crore Inter Corporate Deposit (ICD) between 18-19 October, 2019. After ICD’s stipulated time was over, Bhattad gave two cheques to Chokhani which were subsequently dishonoured by the bank owing to insufficient balance in the bank account.
All the investors, after realising that Bhattad family has cheated them, approached the police and filed a complaint. After a preliminary probe, the police booked MB Constructions, MB Development Corporation, its directors Bhagwandas Bhattad, Harish Bhattad, Laxminarayan Bhattad and others.
“Bhattad family is making false promises to the investors and despite having money not repaying the investors. The entire fraud committed by the Bhattad family has very badly impacted my family. It has ruined the lives of many investors, especially the elderly,” said Mrunali Goyal’s husband Punit Goyal.
Anil Chokhani said that Bhattad even promised investors lucrative returns to the extent of 22%. “His modus operandi was to just pay the interest money and keep on renewing the schemes and never pay back the full amount and later even stop paying the interest,” Chokhani said.
When contacted Bhagwandas Bhattad said, “These were not investments, but we have taken loans from them and also paid them interest. Due to Covid the payment got delayed. But we are still repaying them. We are shocked how the police registered the case, as the repayment is under process. We have no intention to defraud anyone.”