Dadar resident promises flat to old classmate, cheats her of ₹1.25 cr

A 42-year-old man cheated a woman of ₹1.25 crore by posing as a software VP. Police have filed a case, but no arrests made yet.

MUMBAI: A 42-year-old Parsi Colony resident cheated a 41-year-old woman he knew from his school days to the tune of ₹1.25 crore by pretending to be the vice president of a leading software company. The Shivaji Park police booked him for cheating and criminal breach of trust on Monday.

Dadar resident promises flat to old classmate, cheats her of ₹1.25 cr

The accused is identified as Sandeep Dhanawade, a resident of Dadar, Parsi Colony. The complainant, Deepika Patil, was Dhanawade’s classmate in school. She is also friends with his sister. As a Chembur resident working in an Information Technology firm, Patil was keen on buying a flat in Mumbai.

In 2019, when she met Dhanawade, he pretended to be the vice president of a leading IT firm with an income of ₹6 lakh per month. He told her that the income tax department had seized ₹33 crore by freezing his bank account. To unfreeze, he had to pay ₹3 crore. “He told her he owned a flat in Shivaji Nagar and another in Parsi Colony, each worth over ₹5 crore. He was willing to sell the Shivaji Nagar flat for ₹2 crore to Patil. He gained her confidence by showing her a sales agreement, share certificates, and a nominee list,” said a police officer.

Patil began paying Dhanawade the amount in instalments in March 2019. She borrowed ₹76 lakh from friends and sold her jewellery for ₹49 lakh. After paying him ₹1.25 crore, Dhanawade refused to hand over the flat or return her money. So, she filed a complaint with the Shivaji Park Police. No arrests have been made so far.