CA who duped 600 investors of ₹380 cr nabbed from U’khand resort

When he became over-confident and made one mistake, our team traced him using technical details and nabbed him from a resort, said a police officer

MUMBAI: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police on Tuesday arrested Andheri-based Chartered Accountant (CA) Amber Dalal who was on the run since March 14, 2024, after allegedly cheating scores of investors of crores of rupees. Police said around 600 investors from all over the country as well as the UAE and US had approached them, and the cheating amount was pegged at ₹380 crore, which could go up further.

CA who duped 600 investors of ₹380 cr nabbed from U’khand resort

The EOW had issued a Look Out Circular (LoC) against Dalal, fearing he could leave the country. “Our teams searched for him at Juhu, Andheri, Dahisar and other parts of Mumbai, but they did not find him. Finally, when he became over-confident and made one mistake, our team traced him using technical details and nabbed him from a resort,” said a police officer. Dalal was arrested by a team headed by inspector Sachin Kadam of the EOW (unit 12) from Tapovan in Uttarakhand on Tuesday night.

“He was brought to Mumbai and produced before a Special MPID court on Wednesday, which granted us his custody till May 1,” said the police officer.

Dalal, who ran Ritz Consultancy Services, had been taking money from investors since 2010, luring them with 2% returns per month. He repaid investors till February this year, but stopped doing so in March, after which 55 investors approached the police, alleging they were duped of ₹54.45 crore.

“Dalal told the investors that his wife was ill, so he was unable to make payments. But when they did not get any money even after March 10, they went to his house in Oshiwara and learnt that he was untraceable,” said the police officer. Fearing that he could leave India, they approached the Oshiwara police and wrote to the EOW, following which a case was registered at the Oshiwara police station. Dalal was booked under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 409 (criminal breach of trust by a merchant or broker) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act, said the officer.

Some individuals such as Soumya Parmar, co-founder of Himalayan Origins, also took to social media platform X to spread the word about Dalal’s misdeeds. “Please help locate Mr Amber Dalal. Owner of a private investment firm in Mumbai called Ritz Consultancy. He’s missing since 14th March ’24. Over 1,000 crores are invested by over 500 investors across India/abroad. He’s on the run,” Parmar’s post read.

Parmar claimed to have seen Dalal’s car crossing Dahisar. “Possibly heading to Gujarat. He’s got investment companies in US and Dubai,” she said in her post.