Santacruz couple dupes 443 investors of ₹20.14 crore by promising them high returns

Santacruz couple booked for cheating 443 investors of ₹20.14 crore with false promises of high returns; case transferred to EOW for investigation.

MUMBAI: A Santacruz couple was booked on Thursday for cheating at least 443 investors of ₹20.14 crore by promising them high returns on their investments in 100 days.

HT Image

The investors that have approached the police also include the sister of one of the accused who had put a substantial amount into the fake scheme.

The case was registered with the Santacruz police on Thursday following an order from a magistrate court. The police said that as the amount involved in the alleged cheating was more than ₹10 crore, the case has been transferred to the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Crime Branch for further investigation.

According to the police, the accused have been identified as Raziya Khan Poonawala and her husband Mustafa Baig. An officer said that the couple allegedly lured the woman’s three sisters, including the complainant in the case, other relatives, and acquaintances into investing in their scheme.

Rajendra Kane, senior police inspector of Santacruz police station said that the case was registered following orders issued by a metropolitan magistrate court after the complainant Bilkis Shaikh, 58, filed an application.

The couple refused to return their money when they asked for it after they realised that they were being duped. Based on Shaikh’s statement, the couple has been booked under sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 120(b) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act. “The EOW will carry out further investigations,” said Kane.