Crime branch starts probe into multi-crore rupee racket

Mumbai The Mumbai police crime branch has initiated investigations against 10 accused based in Mumbai and Tamil Nadu who, in an elaborate scam executed over the last three years, cheated a Mumbai-based logistics company to the tune of ₹2

Mumbai The Mumbai police crime branch has initiated investigations against 10 accused based in Mumbai and Tamil Nadu who, in an elaborate scam executed over the last three years, cheated a Mumbai-based logistics company to the tune of ₹2.27 crore. Allegedly, the accused have similar cases registered against them in various cities all over the country.

Crime branch starts probe into multi-crore rupee racket

According to crime branch officials, the probe started after Samuel Joseph (50), vice president of Team World Logistics Pvt Ltd, approached them on Saturday. Officials said that Team World, headquartered in Andheri, has branches in 10 cities in India and regularly move customs-cleared goods in and out of the country.

In his statement recorded by the police, Samuel stated that some of his colleagues in Mumbai were approached in December 2019 by one of the accused, who identified himself as Sunil Shelar, manager with M/s Joel International Import and Export. A series of meetings led to a business relationship between Team World, M/s Joel International and a third company called Zenhawk International Liner Pvt Ltd.

“Shelar told Team World’s employees that M/s Joel International was in the business of exporting fly ash, which is used in a wide variety of engineering works, and that Zenhawk usually transported their goods. The deal that was struck required Team World to facilitate smooth pick up, loading and drop off of M/s Joel International consignments by Zenhawk’s personnel. Terms were set and it was decided that Team World would pay Zenhawk’s bills immediately, and that Joel International would reimburse Team World, with their commission, within 30 days of each bill,” said a Crime Branch officer.

The officer added that the arrangement started in 2020 and went on smoothly till April 2021. Suddenly Joel International started defaulting on payments. On the other hand, however, Zenhawk was insisting on prompt payments of their bills, which was causing financial inconvenience to Team World. As of March 2021, Joel International owed a total of ₹2.21 crore towards bills as well as commissions. Despite repeated assurance of payment and claims of the company facing financial instability, Joel failed to repay Team World and finally stopped responding to emails and calls.

“We started checking the addresses, contact details and other information provided by them in their Know Your Customer (KYC) data that they had submitted to us and one by one, all of these details turned out to be bogus. At the same time, we noticed some inconsistencies with respect to shipment details in the bills that Zenhawk had raised with us and smelled a rat on this front as well. When we checked their details on websites that compile public data of listed companies, we were shocked to know that both Joel International and Zenhawk were owned by the same parent company,” Joseph said in his statement.

Further inquiries also revealed that both the companies only existed on paper, and that no shipments were ever sent or received.

“The accused were simply raising bills in the name of Zenhawk and making payments from Joel International’s accounts, biding their time till they had won the complainants’ trust, so that they could default on a large payment,” an officer said.

Accordingly, Joseph submitted all the relevant paperwork to the crime branch Unit X on Saturday, and an FIR of cheating, impersonation and criminal breach of trust under the Indian Penal Code against 10 persons connected to either Joel International, Zenhawk or GPR Private Resources, which is the parent company.

“We have received information to indicate that the accused have similarly cheated two other companies in Mumbai, one in Chennai and two in Dubai to the tune of around ₹27 crores collectively. The number of victims and the swindled amount may go up as investigations progress,” the officer said.