63-year-old duped of ₹88 lakh in real estate scam

Mumbai: A 63-year-old retired bank employee was duped of ₹88 lakh by a Kandivali-based developer on the pretext of providing him with a flat at a cheaper rate

Mumbai: A 63-year-old retired bank employee was duped of ₹88 lakh by a Kandivali-based developer on the pretext of providing him with a flat at a cheaper rate. The victim, Vinay Jagannath Vategaonkar, approached the accused Vishnu Jadhav in 2015, who claimed to have acquired the Navalkar Building in Dadar West for redevelopment. Despite paying the money in installments, the victim has not got the promised flat yet.

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According to the police, Vategaonkar, residing in Dadar (West), met real estate agent Kudtarkar in July 2015, who introduced him to Jadhav. Jadhav asserted that he had purchased the Navalkar building at Ram Maruti Road in Dadar (West) for redevelopment and guaranteed the victim a 407 sq-ft flat for ₹65 lakh.

The victim said that the deal was beyond his budget, but Jadhav convinced him to pay at his convenience. Vategaonkar sold his property in Thane and paid the amount through cheques issued in favor of Siddhivinayak developers at Jadhav’s Mahim office.

The victim further claimed that he had sold his flat in Kandivali and made additional payments, including cash transactions, which were made without proper receipts. Jadhav promised that he would give receipts to him. But when he was delayed in giving receipts for the amount paid in cash the victim started insisting on getting his money back, but Jadhav convinced him to keep faith in him.

The victim, thus, paid ₹88 lakh in all to Jadhav from the period of July 2015 to December 2021 but when the redevelopment work did not start, he got worried. The complainant claimed that even Jadhav started avoiding his calls and during further inquiry he found that his Mahim office was closed, said a police officer. The victim filed a written complaint at Shivaji Park police station. The FIR, based on the complainant’s statement, has been registered, but no arrests have been made yet, according to deputy commissioner of police Manoj Patil of Zone 5.