The absconding Goregaon couple, Ashesh and Shivangi Mehta, who allegedly masterminded a massive home-based drug distribution racket, have now been accused of duping former MLA Krishna Hegde and his friends of Rs 55 lakh.

According to police sources, a Mumbai-based businessman Umesh Shetty, 57, had invested Rs 25 lakh via DIFM, the app of Ashesh Mehta’s trading firm Bliss Consultants, on June 2. A couple of days later, he came across mid-day’s reports about the couple’s alleged involvement in a drug racket and the case registered them at Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh.