Bangalore hotelier wanted ₹6-cr loan, cheated of ₹12.5 lakh

A Bangalore-based hotelier was cheated of ₹12.8 lakh while seeking a business loan of ₹6 crore from a Vashi- based financial consulting firm. After three trips to

A Bangalore-based hotelier was cheated of ₹12.8 lakh while seeking a business loan of ₹6 crore from a Vashi- based financial consulting firm. After three trips to Pune, a meeting in Vashi and a property inspection in Bangalore, six months into his application, the Vashi police on Friday booked three persons on charges of cheating.

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Govind Raj M, 48, in his complaint to the police, said he got in touch with the main accused Abhishek Tiwari through his friend Shivkumar's contact in May. Govind and Shivkumar ran a web search to authenticate Tiwari's credentials and found his office address at Sector 30 in Vashi.

They spoke to Tiwari on a conference call to discuss the loan where Tiwari mentioned he would need to see the property papers for collateral. The hotelier sent his property papers to Tiwari on the latter's official email ID of 'Stagg Solutions'.

"Tiwari called Govind to meet him at his Vashi office. During the meeting on May 15, Tiwari asked him to pay ₹5 lakh to initiate the loan process as the amount is large. While Govind paid half the amount immediately through an online transaction, the rest was paid two days later following the property inspection in Bangalore along with ₹30,000 towards inspection charges," said an officer privy to the investigations.

After paying the amount on May 27, Govind visited Pune the next day to sign additional documents and was told the registration for the loan will be done on June 11, said the police.

While he was scheduled to have another meeting between June 25 and 28, Govind complained that Tiwari started avoiding his calls. He said he had met with an accident and was in hospital. Govind's further inquiries too met with no response and Raj approached the police.

"The hotelier submitted an application against three people — Tiwari, Singh and his private assistant Meghna Joshi. Our preliminary inquiry revealed there was a cognisable offence. Based on that, we have booked the trio under sections of cheating," said an officer from Vashi police station requesting not to be named.

The police said they will issue summons to all the accused .