Man arrested for duping two city jewellers of ₹31.58L

He allegedly posed as an officer from the International Gemological Institute and entered the Chandukaka Saraf store in Pune

MUMBAI: A 33-year-old man who allegedly obtained the GST certificate of a famous jewelry store in Pune to defraud two jewelers in Mumbai to the tune of ₹31.58 lakh was arrested by the police on Monday.

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The accused, Karik Pankaj Shah, is a resident of Borivali and had worked in a jewellery shop in Mumbai in the past. “He was aware that some companies that do not fall under the state customs department were keen to do business with Chandukaka Saraf, who has a store in Pune. That is how Shah targeted these companies in SEEPZ despite other well-known brands having a store there,” said Yash Palav, investigation officer of the case.

On August 8, Shah allegedly posed as an officer from the International Gemological Institute and entered the Chandukaka Saraf store in Pune. He obtained their GST certificate from the manager under the pretext of updating it. “Shah told the store manager that he needed to verify something and required a copy of their GST certificate to be sent via WhatsApp,” Palav said.

The next day, Shah reached out to two gold jewellery making companies – Money Jewels Expert with Better Diamond and Kalista Jewelers – claiming he was Chandukaka Saraf. He told them he was opening two new showrooms in the city and placed an order for gold and diamond ornaments worth ₹31.58 lakh. Palav said that Shah called the company in the evening, placed the order for immediate delivery, so they had no room to cross-check the order.

“Shah also gave them an option of getting the ornaments delivered through a porter and gave them different addresses in Mumbai and Pune,” he said. “But before the order could reach the address, Shah collected the order from the road.” In a couple of days, the companies realised the jewellery had not reached Chandukaka Saraf. The MIDC police then registered a case of fraud and cheating under Section 319 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. Ravindra Vani, senior police inspector, said they traced the cell number that called the companies and the number given to the porter company to intercept Shah on Monday.

“We have arrested Shah and are now finding out how many more companies were defrauded by Shah,” said Vani.