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Fashion designer duped of ₹1.66 cr, man arrested
The 40-year-old fashion designer came in contact with the accused, identified as Mukesh Suryavanshi, four years ago
Mumbai A 33-year-old man, who was hiding in Pune after returning from Dubai six months ago, has been arrested for allegedly duping a fashion designer of ₹1.66 crore on the pretext of providing her gold and helping her open a boutique in Dubai.
The 40-year-old fashion designer came in contact with the accused, identified as Mukesh Suryavanshi, four years ago. Suryavanshi had claimed that he had a trading company that imported gold coins from Dubai for sale in India. “Both of them decided to meet for business in August 2019 at a coffee shop in Mahim,” said police inspector Dinesh Dahatonde of the Mahim police station.
The accused took money from her under the guise of selling gold coins at half the market rate. He also convinced the woman to open a boutique in Dubai. The victim then visited Dubai on March 14, 2020, where they hired models to promote the boutique. Suryavanshi also suggested that she sell Abaya dresses, which are most popular locally and bought by affluent families. Under various pretext, he took ₹1.66 from the woman, Dahatonde added.
Due to lockdown, the victim was stuck in Dubai and she returned to India at the end of 2020. After that, Suryavanshi started avoiding her calls or always made excuses to return her money later. When she realised that she had been duped, she filed a case in September 2021 with Mahim police station.
“We were searching for him and recently got a tip-off and arrested him from a three-star hotel in Pune on March 28. We have seized his mobile phone and laptop. He is currently in police custody,” added Dahatonde.
The accused has duped several other people in Mumbai and five cheating cases are registered against him at Khar, Santacruz police stations and Thane.
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