Two arrested for duping over 100 people on pretext of loans

Two persons have been arrested for duping over 100 people in Maharashtra by promising them loans in exchange for processing fees. The accused used fake names and firms to lure victims.

Mumbai: Two persons have been arrested for allegedly duping over 100 people across the state in the name of processing fees for getting them loans.

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The fraud came to light after the accused promised a ₹20 lakh home to a Wadala resident and stopped responding after taking ₹6.13 lakh as processing fee.

According to the police, the accused, identified as Bhalchandra Palav, 31, and Rohit Nagvekar, 37, claimed that they were directors of Vijaydeep Sahakari Patpedhi in Dahanu, Palgahr.

“Palav promised the Wadala man that he would help him get the home loan. Nagvekar visited the victim’s home to verify his documents. They took ₹6.13 lakh between August 2022 and November 2022 and after taking money they stopped responding to the victim,” police inspector Indrajeet More, crime branch unit 4, said. The loan was never disbursed and the victim approached the Wadala police in March.

The unit 4, which was conducting a parallel investigation, learnt that both the accused had also duped a person in Nehru Nagar area in Kurla with similar modus operandi and had taken ₹2.63 lakh from him, More said, adding the accused have duped over 100 people.

While Palav is accused in 12 cases, Nagvekar has nine cases against him in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Talegaon, Pune, Rajapur and Ratnagiri.

The police said the accused also distributed pamphlets claiming that they run firms—Akriti Finance and Global Finance.

During investigation, the police found that Vijaydeep Sahakari Patpedhi did not exist and it was a fake name used by the accused to lure customers. Even Akriti Finance and Global Finance were also not registered and they use the firm’s name to make people trust them. The accused were earlier arrested by Navi Mumbai but were released on bail, the official added.

“For the past five months, we constantly tried to nab the accused and finally arrested Palav in Belapur and Nagvekar from his residence in Ulve on Saturday. Both were handed over to the Wadala police station for further legal process. There are many victims who have not even approached the police to file cases,” More added.

The police said that Palav has not gone to his residence in Dombivali for the last seven years and stayed in hotels or lodges in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Pune.