Malad departmental store booked for cheating investors of Rs 2 crore

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The owners of Shree Malad Dal Mill, a well-known departmental store, have been booked by the Malad police for allegedly cheating dozens of investors of nearly Rs 2 crore. The owners, including Hasmukh Bhai Rambhia, Bhavesh Rambhia, Ratilal Rambhia, and Miken Rambhia, allegedly took crores of rupees from people by promising 15 per cent returns per annum.

According to the police, most of the victims were customers of Shree Malad Dal Mill. "The owners lured customers in 2012 into investing money, so that their departmental store could be expanded into supermarkets, construction business, etc. They had assured customers that they would be given better returns than banks. As it was an well known store, each customer invested lakhs of rupees," said a Malad police officer.

"We were given genuine receipts to file Income Tax (IT) returns. They assured us we could withdraw the principal amount anytime. But after demonetisation, returns stopped from April 2017," said a victim, Navrang Joshi, who had invested R42.25 lakh with his wife.

The other investors include Uma and Brijmohan Sharma who invested R46 lakh. "Others also invested and all this amounts to R1.75 crore. Some investors have not approached the police yet," said Joshi. Uma Sharma lodged the FIR which has names of at least 11 others.

An Malad police officer said, "We have registered a complaint." The cops have served them notices but the owners have not acknowledged them. The accused have applied for anticipatory bail.

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