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Four brothers dupe SoBo businessman of Rs11 crore, arrested
In July 2015, the four accused gave the south Mumbai businessman 25 cheques of Rs2lakh each, which bounced
The police’s economic offences wing arrested four brothers on Tuesday for allegedly duping a businessman from Girgaon of Rs11 crore. Police said the accused took money from the businessman on various false pretexts and defaulted on repayments.
“We arrested businessmen Bharat, Kalpesh, Haresh and Kirit Satra under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent), 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code for duping Jayesh Gala and his father,” said inspector Prakash Salvi of EOW general cheating unit.
He added that the group’s father Velji Satra is also an accused, but has not been arrested yet.
Gala’s family deals in paper. They have known the Satras for the past 15 years. The two families have conducted many transactions in the past without any dispute, said police. Gala told police that Kirit and Haresh came to his office in January 2015, saying they were importing papers and needed funds. Gala lent them Rs2 crore in four instalments, at an interest rate of 1.5% a month. They promised to return the principal amount in two months.
When Gala asked for his money back, they said they needed more time as they had not yet sold the imports. The family also offered to sell him their godown in Mazgaon. In May 2015, Gala bought the godown, after which the Satras borrowed Rs3 crore more from him. They defaulted in paying him back once more.
When Gala inquired into the ownership of the godown, he learnt that the matter was disputed. Gala’s father had also lent the Satras Rs6 crore at 1.5% monthly interest rate for a year. He too did not get his money back, said police.
After failing to get his money back for a year, Gala approached the EOW with a complaint.
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