Man posing as lawyer dupes former MP Akhtar Rizvi of ₹52 lakh

Rizvi told the police that the accused returned ₹24 lakh, but threatened his wife that he would reveal their confidential information to their opponents in one of the cases if they demanded the remaining amount

MUMBAI: The Khar police have registered a cheating case against a man who allegedly duped educationist and former Rajya Sabha MP Dr Akthar Hasan Rizvi of ₹52 lakh by posing as a lawyer and offering to represent him in multiple cases.

Man posing as lawyer dupes former MP Akhtar Rizvi of ₹52 lakh

Rizvi told the police that the accused returned ₹24 lakh, but threatened his wife that he would reveal their confidential information to their opponents in one of the cases if they demanded the remaining amount. He later also allegedly demanded ₹15 lakh when the couple asked him to return their original documents.

The accused was introduced to Rizvi, the founder of Mumbai-based Rizvi Education Society, in 2011 and identified himself as Sameer Bhogani. He allegedly claimed he was a famous lawyer and told Rizvi he would take care of his case in court. He also allegedly showed Rizvi a certificate purportedly showing that he was registered with the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa.

Rizvi trusted Bhogani and shared information with him, including original documents and other details regarding the cases filed against him. Bhogani then allegedly took ₹52 lakh from Rizvi as legal fees for various matters but never actually filed a legal reply in the court nor appeared as an advocate. Rizvi told the police that Bhogani had not even filed his Vakalatnama (a legal document that gives a lawyer the authority to represent a client in court).

After Rizvi began suspecting something was amiss, he got his friend’s lawyer son to send a letter to the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa to inquire about Bhogani. The bar council replied that there was no lawyer named Sameer Bhogani registered with them, stated the FIR.

Rizvi then asked Bhogani to return his money. The latter returned ₹24 lakh and promised to hand over the remaining amount by July 2023. However, he then allegedly called Rizvi’s wife and said he would return all confidential information and original documents to them only if they waive off the remaining amount of ₹28 lakh. He also threatened to give the documents to their opponent in one of the cases if they didn’t comply and then demanded another ₹15 lakh to return the documents, the FIR added.

Rizvi then filed a case against Bhogani in a Bandra court; based on the court’s order, an FIR was registered against Bhogani on October 15, said a police officer. “The case has been registered and no one has been arrested yet. The investigation is going on,” said deputy commissioner of police Dikshit Gedam.