Victims were assured that funds would be arranged from national and international banks and agencies
Two men, nabbed on July 22 on charges of cheating people in a multi-crore finance scam with national repercussions, have been handed over by the Kasturba Marg police to the Economic offences Wing (EOW) and have been remanded to police custody till August 12.
The accused, Saket Sharma and Sanjiv Kumar Singh, were arrested on charges of collecting lakhs of rupees in advance by promising people that they would get them loans through different national and international agencies. Subsequently the case was handed over to the EOW when it was realized that the scam had nation wide ramifications.
Five others, including two foreigners, are still at large. The absconding accused are: Sanjay Bhardwaj (also known as Sanjay Sharma), Raj Kothari, Mittal, David Welham and Christopher. David and Christopher are said to be foreigners, whereas Mittal is an NRI.
.DCP Pravinkumar Patil (Zone XII) told ADC that they have confiscated some documents and data from the accused. Since cases against them have also been registered with different police stations, the matter has been handed over to the EOW, he said.
On Saturday some of the victims of the scam gathered outside Kasturba Marg police station and demanded that the main kingpin, Sanjay Sharma be nabbed immediately and the property of M/s Delta Finlease Private Limited, located at Metro Mall, Borivali East, be seized. As of now the office of Delta remains locked but it has not been sealed by the police.
According to the data collected, the list of those who have been duped is long and includes: Musa Lakdawala, Byculla, Mumbai (Rs 50 lakh), Mohammed Shams, Dahisar, Mumbai (Rs 32 lakh), B.K.Avhad, Chairman, HR & UB Infra Projects Private Limited, Lower Parel, Mumbai (Rs 28 lakh), Subhash Palshetkar, Chairman, Sai Abhishek Group of Companies, Mira Road (Rs 36 lakh) and D.D.Pawar, Director, Pawar Builders, Pune (Rs 29 lakh).
The matter came to the fore when one of the victims, Musa Lakadawala, filed an FIR (203/2013) with Kasturba Marg Police on July18, once he realized that there were no signs of him getting a loan of Rs 20 crore which he had sought from Delta Finlease. For this he had paid Rs 49 lakh by way of cash (Rs 7 lakh) and the rest by cheques and bank guarantees last May. He had also pledged the original documents of 7 flats (worth Rs 35 crore) belonging to him and his brothers as collateral security.
No sooner had he lodged the FIR, than he began receiving threats on his mobile phone and also through emails purportedly sent in the name of Credit Finance Co. Ltd, Bangkok. Delta Finlease also allegedly threatened him that all the flats pledged by him would be taken over without him getting the loan applied for. Musa then filed another complaint with the Byculla Police station.
Meanwhile, a team of the Kasturba Marg police led by DCP Patil, comprising Sr PIs Bharat Varleker, PIs Laxman Chavan, Sudhir Sankhe, API.Raorane and Head Constable Vikrant Kanade worked relentlessly and arrested the accused within a record time. They were guided by Additional CP Sunil Pavaskar.
The accused were operating from their office, Delta Finlease Pvt. Ltd at Metro Mall Borivali (East). Earlier they were functioning from Goregaon (East). Before that they were operating in the name of Fiscal Development from Dahisar (East). They had also claimed to have sister concerns, Credit Finance Corporation Co. Ltd, and Global Fiscal Corporation Co. Ltd in Bangkok (Thailand).
Besides, they had also claimed that they had agents in UAE and UK and other states in India, the complainant Musa Lakadawla said, adding that the accused have been operating in Mumbai, Pune, Gujarat , Delhi, UP, MP and Haryana.
Their offices were well-furnished and maintained to impress loan seekers. The staff of the Delta Finlease & Credit Finance always carried bags with airport tags to further impress visitors. The accused are allegedly experts in fabricating documents, making false ID cards etc.
The usual contact strategy was through newspaper advertisements and social networking sites. Those who responded were usually builders, small film makers and traders.
They used to collect 2 to 3 percent of the loan amount applied for as legal charges and also collected additional charges for translating documents into Thai! These, they claimed, would be submitted in Bangkok. They also used to obtain signatures on blank agreements, Lakadawala alleged.
They used to implicate their clients in false cases if they pressed for the refund of the amounts they had paid in advance.
The offence has been registered against all the accused under various sections of IPC; cheating, forgery, unlawful business practice, breach of trust, money laundering (hawala), harassment, and using abusive and vulgar language.
As the news of their arrest spread throughout India, many affected people have began filing FIRs in different police stations. One of the victims, D.D.Pawar, has lodged a FIR with Mundhwa police in Pune.