Raigad cops arrest Khalapur resident for pretending to be owner of a shut firm looking to sell off scrap and swindling potential buyers by taking huge deposit amounts
The Khalapur police from Raigad have arrested a 47-year-old local for allegedly cheating people by posing as the owner of a closed company looking to sell off its scrap and taking deposits from potential buyers. The police said he has swindled several people and the total amount of the fraud could run into crores.
Niyaz Khan, the accused
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The accused has been identified as Niyaz Khan alias Samir Khan. Investigation revealed that he has a huge bungalow and owns two shops and many plots. He also owns many high-end cars, including Fortuner, Honda Civic and Honda City, the police added.
Modus operandi
It was a complaint by Gujarat resident Atik Rafiq Kazi, 35, a scrap dealer, that ended Khan's run. Kazi, in his complaint, alleged that in May 2017 he approached Khan, through his friends, for a deal.
"Kazi said Khan came in a white Fortuner having a VIP number plate - 1000. He was wearing three gold chains and bracelets. Khan allegedly told him that he owned a company in Khalapur that had shut down and he wanted to sell its scrap material. Their deal was fixed at over Rs 1 crore, for which Kazi paid him a token amount of Rs 8.31 lakh - Rs 31,000 cash and the rest via cheque," said an officer.
Senior inspector J A Shaikh said, "We had been trying to trace him for the last five months. Finally, after Kazi's complaint, we managed to arrest him on December 6. He was in police custody for seven days; we plan to get that extended.
"We also found that he has seven brothers, all having a criminal background. He would threaten people, saying one of his brothers was a murderer and that if they (people) harassed him for money, he would get them killed. He owns a bank account under the name MK Traders. When we checked the account details, we found that it had been opened on a fake address."
Fraud across cities
Shaikh added that Khan has cheated many people across different cities - there are cases registered against him in Kalamboli, Navi Mumbai and Khopoli in Raigad, besides two cases in Mumbai and one in Delhi.
"Many of those Khan cheated aren't approaching us as they don't have any proof, because they paid him in cash. We are investigating further and appeal to his victims to come forward and lodge a complaint," he said. The Khalapur police have registered the case against the accused under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
Rs 1 crore
Worth of the deal between the accused and the complainant
Rs 8.31 lakh
Token amount the complainant paid the accused
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