Businessman who cheated investors of ₹2 crore arrested after a month

Businessman Hasmukh Bhati, accused of defrauding 28 individuals of nearly ₹2 crore in a jewelry investment scheme, has been arrested in Mumbai. The fraud amount is now estimated to be ₹5 crore. Bhati had been evading police for over a month.

MUMBAI: Businessman Hasmukh Bhati, who had been at large since a cheating case was registered against him last month, was arrested by the police this week. Bhati had allegedly defrauded 28 individuals of nearly ₹2 crore by promising them attractive returns on investing in his imitation jewelry venture.

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The complaint against the accused was made by his childhood friend Nipun Sanghvi, who said Bhati promised 10-15% returns, after which he and 28 others had collectively invested a sum of ₹2 crore in Bhati’s company. Sanghvi had personally invested ₹1 crore, of which he had acquired ₹58 lakh through bank loans. The other investors were acquaintances of Sanghvi. None of them saw any profits or even the principals being returned, after which a complaint was registered on December 12.

An officer from Jogeshwari police station said that following the complaint, several people came forward with similar complaints against Bhati. “In all, the amount of fraud went up to ₹5 crore in the end,” he said.

After the complaint was registered, Bhati was successful in evading the police for more than a month. He was produced in the Andheri court over the weekend. The accused was then remanded into police custody to enable his questioning for the investigation. Based on the evidence produced in front of the court on Wednesday, he was sent to judicial custody.

Police said that they are collating the complaints from other people and will present all the facts with a final count of the fraud amount to the court soon.