Nashik doctor duped of ₹80 lakh in forex trading con

Man booked for duping doctor of ₹80 lakh in Forex investment scam by promising double returns; accused used fake names and tactics to con victim.

MUMBAI: A man has been booked for duping a 65-year-old doctor from Nashik of ₹80 lakh after promising him double returns on his investment in Foreign Exchange (Forex). The complainant, Dr Ghanshyam Verma, had transferred the accused money through RTGS, UPI, net banking and wire transfer.

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According to the police, the whole incident started in 2018, when Verma stayed in Goregaon where he had received a call from a man who posed as Shoaib Memon and told him he should meet him if he wanted to double the money.

In 2018, “They met at New Mill Road in Kurla West. The accused then told the doctor, if he invested ₹1 lakh with him, he would pay him ₹10,000 every month for 12 months and then return his investment of ₹1 lakh. The accused even signed a MoU on a bond paper of ₹100 with Verma,” said the police officer. After receiving the investment, the accused stopped answering his phone calls, said the officer.

“In August 2022, the accused again called Dr Verma and told him to invest in forex through him and get back his earlier investment and good returns on his investment in forex. The doctor who had already invested with him thought to get the money he needed to invest more with him and paid him ₹25,000,” said the police officer.

Further, the accused told him that his bank account was frozen and demanded more money. The doctor borrowed money from several of his relatives and paid the accused via several modes.

The accused kept asking him to pay him money citing different reasons, promising to return them. Later, the complainant learnt that his real name was Shariya Mustaq Chhatriwala and realised that he had been duped and approached the police.

“We have registered a case against Chhatriwala under sections 419 (punishment for cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code,” said the police officer.