E-Paper
In a multi-city scam, Pune man dupes investors of ₹1.5 cr
Imran Khan, who runs his investment firm from the Ramwadi area, has been identified as the accused and is absconding since September 2022
PUNE:
At least eight investors, including a medical professional from Mumbai, have come forward to claim that an investment agency registered in Pune defrauded them of ₹1.5 crore. This has prompted the Pune City Police to launch an investigation into a possible cryptocurrency investment scam.
Based on a complaint filed by a doctor from Mulund, Mumbai, police filed a First Information Report (FIR) on Sunday, April 9. The complainant, Dr Parag Kemkar, had invested approximately ₹25 lakh with the accused companies.
Imran Khan, who runs his investment firm from the Ramwadi area, has been identified as the accused and is absconding since September 2022.
Balkrishna Kadam, senior police inspector (SPI) at Yerwada police station said, “The accused claimed to deal with cryptocurrencies and promised handsome returns to the investors. Initially, he paid some returns but since September 2022, he stopped paying returns to the investors.’’
As per police information, the complainant attended a Zoom meeting with Khan in April 2022. Khan promised the complainant that investing in blue-chip companies would yield a return of 15%, while Bitcoins would yield a return of twice as much in the space of a year.
Impressed by the accused’s commitment, the victim visited Khan’s office and made investments totalling ₹10 lakh and ₹15 lakh.
Later, the accused created the complainant’s IDs and explained the Bitcoin marketing process to him.
According to police, eight investors have reported losses totaling ₹1.47 crore, with victims hailing from various parts of Mumbai, including Mulund, Panvel, and Dombivli, as well as Aurangabad and other locations.
Police are actively pursuing leads in their investigation as they believe more investors could be involved in the scam.
A case has been registered at the Yerwada police station under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 406 (breach of trust), 420 (cheating), and 506 (criminal Intimidation) as well as relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, and further investigation is underway.
