09 July,2014 06:51 AM IST | | Saurabh Vaktania
Arti Gawad had promised people a return of 5% per month on money invested with her, but spent some of it on her daughter’s wedding and lost the rest in IPL betting
A 38-year-old woman has been arrested by the MIDC police for duping more than 22 people, including her own kin, of nearly Rs 73 lakh. Arti Gawad had promised people a return of 5% per month on money invested with her, but spent some of it on her daughter's wedding and lost the rest in IPL betting.
The complainants include government servants, doctors, retirees and even the woman's brother and sister. Arti, who got divorced 15 years back and has two daughters, was arrested on Sunday and charged under Section 420 (Cheating) of the IPC. She has been remanded in police custody.
Assistant Police Inspector G N Mudiraj of the MIDC police said Arti began the racket in 2010. She started taking lakhs from people and giving them 5% interest. She would put up her own house as surety for the agreement. "She spoke about the scheme to almost everybody she met and tried to lure them into investing. Many people fell into her trap," he said.
Mudiraj added that for two years, Arti gave people money. However, she spent some on her daughter's wedding recently and also lost lakhs in IPL betting and thus couldn't repay her investors anymore. More than 22 people then filed an FIR against Arti at MIDC police station. Police are trying to find out where Arti did the betting to try and recover the complainants' money.
