Hyderabad diamond trader arrested for allegedly cheating Mumbai bizman of ₹11.25 crore in credit scam

MUMBAI: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police has arrested a 29-year-old Hyderabad-based diamond trader for allegedly defrauding a Mumbai trader of diamonds worth ₹11

MUMBAI: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police has arrested a 29-year-old Hyderabad-based diamond trader for allegedly defrauding a Mumbai trader of diamonds worth ₹11.25 crore, after first building his trust through small business transactions, police said.

The accused, Anand Singh Thakur alias Kunal, allegedly took diamonds worth ₹6.7 crore and ₹4.5 crore from complainant Ketan Choksi, who runs a diamond trading business in the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), on the pretext of showing them to prospective clients. The diamonds, weighing 3,370 carats, have not yet been recovered, police said.

According to the EOW, Thakur, along with Shivnarayan Pandey, allegedly conspired to establish a relationship of trust with Choksi between September 2025 and January 2026 at his office in BKC. The duo initially carried out small-value business transactions with the complainant before allegedly taking diamonds worth crores of rupees on credit.

Police said the accused had allegedly established a diamond shop named Swastik Diamond Shop in Himayat Nagar, Hyderabad. The shop was reportedly operational for only a short period, during which Thakur allegedly befriended several diamond traders and obtained diamonds from them on credit.

“They initially conducted small business with him and later took diamonds worth ₹6.7 crore and ₹4.5 crore under the pretext of showing them to clients 3,370 carats,” the police said.

The investigation has also revealed that Choksi may not have been the only trader allegedly targeted by the accused. “They shut the shop after cheating several traders. Neither returned money or diamonds to people. We are searching for Arjun Pandey, Madan Sisodiya, Akbar Khan and Abhishek Vaidya,” said a police officer from EOW.

“We are yet to recover the diamonds which have been sold by the accused. The wanted accused need to be traced. The accused have similarly done cheating of ₹52 lakh, ₹58 lakh and ₹7 lakh,” said the police officer.

The case was registered in May under charges of cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy. Police said some of the accused also have cases registered against them in Ahmedabad.