A couple running a real estate firm in Thane district of Maharashtra has been booked for allegedly cheating a 71-year-old businessman to the tune of Rs 28.5 crore, police said on Thursday.

The complainant, Vijay Agrawal, who is an aluminium trader in neighbouring Mumbai, said he came in contact with the accused - Sanjay Bhalerao and his wife Pratima Bhalerao - through a common friend in 2011. The accused asked Agrawal to invest in their real estate business by promising lucrative returns, a police spokesperson said.