Investment fraud: Navi Mumbai dry fruit firm owner dupes 300 of Rs 26 crore, booked

According to the complainant, he got in touch with Parte and his firm Rudra Traders through a friend in 2022. The friend told him about the investment scheme by Parte, in which a person invests any amount for 11 months for an interest of five per cent. After the 11-month period, the said amount would be refunded to the investors. For security, the company gives fixed deposit bonds to the investors.

In October 2022, the complainant along with his friend visited Rudra Traders office in sector-11, Juinagar, Navi Mumbai, where all accused were present. “Parte told me that his company buys essential commodities directly from the farmers and sells them as per requirement basis to make profit,” the complainant told the police.
Parte also told the complainant that Rudra Traders, which has a head office in APMC, Vashi, was into import export business, and that it has cashew godowns in Sangameshwar (Maharashtra) and Gujarat. Parte also claimed he owns General Trading firm in Dubai and Lakshmi Prakash Cooperative Credit Society in APMC, Vashi. Considering Parte’s business network and his investment scheme, the complainant decided to invest money in the scheme.

Between October and November 2022, the complainant invested Rs 16.60 lakh in the scheme. As security, he was given post-dated cheques, FD certificates and FD bonds of Lakshmi Prakash Cooperative Society, police said.

Initially, the complainant received Rs 3.50 lakh interest as promised, but later on they started defaulting. “The past eight months, I have not received a single rupee from them,” the complainant stated in the FIR.

“When I inquired about the delay, I discovered that there are around 300 investors who invested Rs 26 crore… When we asked them, they assured us that they would return the money, but are ignoring us us. Later, went incommunicado and also closed their office. The FD bonds and the PDC cheques given to me are suspected to be bogus,” the complainant stated.

Most of the victims belong to the middle class, the complainant said adding some of them had even taken the money on interest from elsewhere to invest. Police suspect that the accused may have duped many others too.

Parte and three others have been booked under sections 406, 409, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act. Police are in process of recording the statement of investors and collecting transaction details, an officer said.