Goa thanks him, Maha arrests him: Fake CMO officer held in Rs 2.8 cr fraud

Updated On: 09 December, 2025 07:05 AM IST | Mumbai | Anish Patil

Fake ‘CMO officer’ arrested for Rs 3-cr fraud, had ‘donated’ 31 laptops to Goa Police, forged MLA’s personal assistant’s ID card

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Pictures shared by the Goa CMO’s X handle on April 4, 2025, showing Vaibhav Thakar (in black) with Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant (with pen in left pocket). PICS/By Special Arrangement

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The LT Marg police have learnt that Vaibhav Thakar, a man nabbed by them on December 7 for allegedly cheating a Zaveri Bazaar jeweller of Rs 2.8 crore while posing as an officer from the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), had been previously arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in a Rs 200-crore gold trading case. After securing bail in that case last year, Thakar travelled to Goa, met its Chief Minister, Pramod Sawant, and donated 31 laptops to the Goa Police — a gesture later acknowledged by the Goa CMO on its X handle.

A bogus ID card portraying the ‘scamster’ as the PA of a Maharashtra legislator