3 min readMumbaiMay 12, 2025 08:07 PM IST
First published on: May 12, 2025 at 08:07 PM IST
Police have booked a Masjid Bunder-based director of a company on Sunday for allegedly defrauding a Malabar Hill-based businessman to the tune of Rs 2.05 crore under the pretext of investing in a land scheme in Ratnagiri, Konkan.
The Pydhonie police, which is investigating the matter, said that the alleged offence took place between October 2017 and May 2025.
According to police, the accused person’s company, Safe & Sure Port and Shipyard (under S & S Group of Companies), was established in the year 2018.
However, on October 25, 2017, he had signed as the chairman on the letterhead of Safe & Sure Port and Shipyard Company and allegedly committed the offence with the intention of defrauding the complainant and his family.
As per the FIR, the accused person pretended that his Safe & Sure Port & Shipyard Pvt. Ltd. had received a contract from the state government to develop a seaport and port area in Rajapur district, Ratnagiri, and his company aims to fully develop the said port in the next six years.
The accused told the victim that his company requires an investment of Rs 50 crore for the port and shipyard to be developed at this place. He also told the businessman that his company owned 18 acres of land in Ratnagiri that was being sold at Rs 2.5 crore per acre. The accused said that the company will take the land of each buyer, who buys the land, on an annual (rent) lease for the next 6 years, and after 6 years, the company will buy back the land from the buyer at the rate of at least Rs 6 crore per acre.
By making such claims, the accused allegedly accepted a total of Rs 1.72 crore via cheque and Rs 72 lakh in cash from the complainant, states the FIR.The company sold one acre of land to the complainant and subsequently took it back on lease for the next 6 years.
But the accused person started defaulting on paying the rent to the complainant as per the agreement. When the complainant repeatedly asked the accused, he claimed that the said project had been cancelled.
He assured the complainant that he would pay back all his money, and an agreement to this effect was also signed by both the parties. However, only nine out of 50 cheques given by the accused were encashed in the bank, while the rest bounced, the complainant stated in his statement to the police. Realising that he was defrauded, he approached police and filed a complaint.
After zonal DCP’s approval, Pydhonie police registered a case of criminal breach of trust and cheating under against the accused company owners and his unknown partner and are further investigating the matter, said a police source.
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