Accused of duping over 1,000 investors of crores: Mumbai Police issue LoC against CA Amber Dalal

An EOW source confirmed that an LoC has been issued against Dalal restricting him from fleeing the country. The source also confirmed that nearly 200 investors have so far approached the police alleging they have been defrauded of more than Rs 100 crore. But, this figure may go up several times as more victims approach the police.

A victim, speaking to The Indian Express, said there are more than 1,023 investors who invested money with Dalal and were defrauded. “These investors are not just from India, but also from UK, US, Australia, China and Dubai,” she said.

Mumbai’s Oshiwara police station first registered a case on March 15 against Dalal, owner of Ritz Consultancy Services Company, initially for allegedly cheating dozens of investors to the tune of Rs 54 crore. The case was lodged by a Juhu-based fashion designer.

According to the FIR, in April 2023, a friend introduced the complainant to Dalal, who offered her lucrative profit on investment. Dalal claimed that he would invest her money in various commodities and conduct trading, promising a monthly return of 1.5 per cent to 1.8 per cent on profit. Assuring her of transparency, he said that a Memorandum of Understanding would be signed, police said.

The complainant woman made an investment and when she received the promised returns, she made further investments. Between April 2023 and March 2024, the complainant invested Rs 54.45 lakh in Dalal’s company.

However, from March 2024, the accused company started defaulting on payment. When she confronted Dalal, he started giving one or another excuse and ignored her. Later, she found out that many others were also duped by Dalal, police said.

When the investors discovered that Dalal had escaped, they approached the police.

Many senior citizen victims

The investors have invested from minimum Rs 10 lakh to even Rs 10 crore in Dalal’s schemes. There are many senior citizens, some of them even invested their pension money. People from all walks of life including businessmen, lawyers, CAs, are among the fraud victims, said an investor.

Dalal has been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 409 (criminal breach of trust) along with sections of the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act. The police have already questioned Dalal’s son multiple times. EOW is also probing the money trail, current balances in various banks of Ritz’s investments.

Actor’s family lost over Rs 1 crore

Actor Annu Kapoor’s family is also among the victims who lost money to Dalal. According to the actor, his family has been investing with Dalal since past few years and has been regularly getting the promised profit until recently when the money didn’t come.

Dalal used to live in Kapoor’s building and that’s how he knew him. “My family is not the only one but there are many victims, including senior citizens investing their life savings. It is very sad,” Kapoor told The Indian Express.

The investors have claimed that its a fraud worth Rs 1,200 crore. However, EOW officials are in process of contacting the investors, checking the company’s accounts, bank transactions details and quantifying the overall fraud, said an EOW officer.

More people from film industry have also lost money to Dalal.

The accused told investors that the money would be invested in risk free market. As investors, who initially started with small amounts, were getting promised monthly 2% interest regularly, their trust in Dalal grew and they started investing bigger amounts expecting more profit, the police said.

Dalal’s company handed over post-dated cheques to many investors who wanted to withdraw cash. But, after hearing the news of frauds, when the investors rushed to the bank, they discovered that the company’s bank account has only Rs 50,000, said another investor.

Dalal avoided facing investors over non-payment of monthly interests by saying his wife had been hospitalised. Later, on March 14, he silently went into hiding, prompting investors to approach the police for help.