MUMBAI: The Kalachowki police have arrested a 41-year-old man, a purported chartered accountant (CA), for allegedly duping a Lalbaug resident of ₹2.4 crore by luring him to buy 11 cars on loan from various banks and taking possession of the vehicles claiming they would be rented out to luxury hotels.
The fraud was carried out between August 2023 and February 2024 and police are on the lookout for two accomplices of the arrested accused who are on the run, officers aware of the matter told Hindustan Times.
The accused, identified as Rahul Girish Shah alias Sachin alias Saurabh, was arrested and produced in court on Sunday and remanded to police custody till June 26.
According to the police, Shah was a resident of Millat Nagar in Oshiwara while the person he defrauded, 40-year-old Suhas Mestri, lived in Lalbaug and worked with a charitable trust. In 2023, Mestri was looking for a stable investment opportunity when his friend, Harshal Gangurde, introduced him to Shah, who claimed to be a CA.
In August 2023, Shah visited Lalbaug during the Ganpati festival and met Mestri. He advised the Lalbaug resident and his wife, who worked with a private firm, to invest in new cars, claiming they could reap huge profits by renting out the cars to hotels and companies. Shah claimed that he had good contacts with various hotels in the city where diplomats visiting from Delhi stayed
and he could help Mestri strike rental deals with them.
Subsequently, Mestri met Gangurde and Shah at a hotel in Bandra Kurla Complex. Shah praised Mestri’s credit history and asked him to purchase 11 cars on loan. He also said that he would help Mestri rent the cars and earn good profits.
“Two accomplices of Shah – identified as Akash and Viraj – collected various documents from Mestri and his wife and applied for car loans from several banks on their behalf. They also took Mestri and his wife’s signatures on multiple bank forms and documents,” a police officer faimilar with the case said.
Shah further advised Mestri to take ₹5.10 lakh on loan from a private finance company towards down payment for purchasing the vehicles, the officer added.
In January 2024, Mestri met with an accident and was homebound for several weeks. Eleven car loans that he had applied for via Shah’s accomplices were approved during this time, and the loan amounts were transferred to respective car showrooms. In all, Shah purchased 11 cars and two laptops in Mestri’s name. He took some cars to Mestri’s house and took his photos with the vehicles.
“Since Mestri was unwell, Shah took possession of all the vehicles. He said he would rent them out on Mestri’s behalf and hand over the money to Mestri. He also said he would repay the loans,” said the police officer.
A few months later, Mestri noticed the EMIs were unpaid and he was not receiving any money for renting out the cars. As calls to Shah went unanswered, he contacted Gangurde, who claimed that Shah had been arrested by the Achole police in Mira-Bhayandar.
Mestri realised then that he had been duped and approached the Kalachowki police station. Based on his complaint, the police registered a case against Shah and his three accomplices under sections 316 and 318 and 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, said police.
“We have launched a manhunt for the two absconding accused. We are also checking if Shah had been arrested by Achole police earlier,” said the officer.