3 booked in Mumbai for duping businessman of Rs 30 lakh by selling him brass instead of gold

According to the police, the businessman, Naresh Jain, is a resident of Bhuleshwar in south Mumbai. The police said that the victim stayed with his wife and two sons and on December 12, Jain had gone to Esplanade Court in CST for some personal work when he happened to meet a person who identified himself as Shivkumar Mali.

“He asked me for the address of a branch of the State Bank of India and during the conversation, he handed me a silver coin. It was 11 gram and the man who identified himself as Mali said that he had 300 such silver coins which he wanted to sell as soon as possible,” said the complainant in his statement to the police.

The businessman shared his mobile number and went to Zaveri Bazaar to check the authenticity of the silver coin which was handed over to him.

“I came to know that the silver coin was genuine, of which I even have a receipt. Then on the same day, at 5.56 pm, Mali called me and asked me to come and meet him at Borivali,” read the statement of the complainant, who added, “Then, the next day, my wife and I went to Borivali where Mali along with two others, including a woman, had come to meet us.”

An officer privy to the investigation said, “Mali told us that since he lives in Kanpur, he is afraid of taking all the valuables there so he wants to sell them off in Mumbai and leave for his native place.”

Jain was once again given a piece of gold and asked to verify its credibility. The businessman once again went to a shop at Zaveri Bazaar and got it confirmed that the gold was genuine.

“My wife was impressed by Mali’s words and she insisted on buying gold from them for less money and selling it for more money to earn profit,” said Jain in his statement to the police.

A price of Rs 30 lakh was set and the businessman met Mali in Borivali on December 14. “There, we gave Rs 30 lakh to the woman accompanying Mali and at that time, the woman opened a cloth bag and showed us some yellow metal which we assumed was half a kilogram of gold,” Jain told the police.

Some time later, when he tried to call Mali, his number was switched off and it struck Jain that he was looted. He rushed to Zaveri Bazaar and it came to light that the metal was brass and not gold. Subsequently, a case under Sections 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Kasturba Marg police station.