Fake CMO official among four booked in Mumbai for Rs 2.8 cr fraud on jeweller

Mumbai Police have registered a case against a man who allegedly posed as an officer at the Chief Ministers Office CMO and three others for allegedly cheating a jeweller of Rs 28 crore officials said reported news agency PTIThe 57yearold jeweller Shailesh Jain approached the Lokmanya Tilak Marg Police Station on November 28 with a complaint against four persons an official said on Monday reported PTIIn his complaint Jain said that in January 2024 he came in contact with a man identified as Vaibhav Paresh Thakar 32 who claimed to be a Class I officer working in the Chief Ministers Office reported PTIThakar along with his wife motherinlaw and agent Birju Salla conspired and duped the jeweller of Rs 28 crore after taking money gold and diamonds from him under various pretexts between February and April 2024 the complainant alleged reported PTIBased on the complaint the police have registered a case against the four persons on charges of cheating and a probe is on into it the official saidFormer counsellor with Thane academic institute booked for cheatingIn another case the police have registered an FIR against a former academic counsellor of an educational institute in Maharashtras Thane city for allegedly cheating students and misusing their data to fraudulently collect money officials said on Monday reported PTIThe accused in July this year stopped reporting to work at the institute which provides training courses for students in analytics and technology they saidHe however continued to contact students falsely presenting himself as still employed with the institute and allegedly collected Rs 48866 without the establishments knowledge an official from Naupada police station said reported PTIThe accused misused student data and collected money directly from them into his personal mobilelinked account He did not inform the students that he was no longer associated with the institute and misled them under various pretexts the official said reported PTIFollowing a complaint by the institute the police on Saturday registered a case against the counsellor under sections 3164 criminal breach of trust and 3184 cheating of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita the police saidMan held for cheating Thane jeweller of Rs 27 lakhMeanwhile police have arrested a man in Maharashtras Thane district for allegedly cheating a local jeweller of Rs 275 lakh by gaining his trust with a fake cheque officials said on Sunday reported PTIThe accused from the Bhayander area befriended the 57yearold jeweller through an online real estate marketplace in July and gained his trust by giving a cheque of Rs 66 lakh as an advance payment towards the purchase of a flat from himAfter winning the victims confidence the accused bought gold jewellery valued at Rs 275 lakh from him without making any payment and then issued a stoppayment instruction for the cheque issued earlier for the property deal a police release said reported PTIBased on the jewellers complaint the Bhayander police registered a case against the accused on September 16 under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 3184 cheating and 3162 criminal breach of trust reported PTIThe accused later hid his identity and frequently changed locations to Delhi Noida and Mumbai to evade arrest it saidThe police finally traced him to a hotel in Thane city and arrested him from there on November 27 the release said reported PTIThe accused is a habitual offender with cases of cheating already registered against him in Thane and Mumbai and some dating back to 2000 the police addedWith inputs from PTI