Lawyer nabbed in Mumbai in Rs 200 cr fake arbitration scam

Shivani and Ashish Kumar Mehta

The Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai police has arrested 34-year-old advocate Amit Chaurasiya from Bhayandar in connection with a R200-crore fake arbitration case involving Bliss Consultants. he fraudulent arbitration was initiated by Denron Rea IT company against Bliss Consultants' owners, Ashesh and Shivangi Mehta. Chaurasiya is accused of appearing on behalf of Bliss Consultants and filing a fake affidavit in Pune's Khed court, which led to the arbitration award of Rs 200 crore based on the NOC and affidavit he submitted. The Mehta couple, who filed a complaint through their sister, claim they never appointed Chaurasiya as their counsel and allege that the entire arbitration was fabricated with malicious intent to hijack their company.

During the investigation, officer Vijendra Dhurat discovered that the arbitration was fraudulent. As a result, a case was registered against Denron Rea IT Trade Pvt Ltd and its directors, identified as Hari Prasad Paswan, Rameshkumar Yadav, and another accused, Sabir Rafiq Khan, who appeared as the authorised signatory during the arbitration process in August 2022 at Pune's Khed court.

According to the EOW, Advocate Amit Chaurasiya was arrested after a detailed investigation revealed that the arbitration was fraudulent. Although he was never appointed as counsel by Bliss Consultants, Chaurasiya allegedly appeared as their lawyer, created fake affidavits, filed a vakalatnama, and submitted a "taken on board" application. He is also accused of using counterfeit stamps of Bliss Consultants to file documents in Pune's Khed court. "When confronted with all the documents, Chaurasiya failed to provide satisfactory answers, leading to his arrest for custodial interrogation to uncover the entire conspiracy behind the Rs 200 crore fake arbitration," the EOW stated while seeking his custody before the court. Chaurasiya has been remanded to EOW custody until August 25. The EOW has said that they are verifying and interrogating the accused to ascertain on whose behalf he had filed the fake documents and appeared as the lawyer of the Bliss Consultants.

The Mehtas are the founders and directors of Bliss Consultants, which has 2,400 customers and a growth rate of 500 per cent across more than nine countries. However, their fortunes took a drastic turn when they were ensnared in a drug-related case by the Khaniyadhana police of Shivpuri district in Madhya Pradesh in June 2023. However, the couple went into hiding in July 2023. Subsequently, an ex-MLA filed a case against them at Amboli police station, which was later transferred to the EOW. The investigation included charges under the MPID Act, and the authorities seized the couple's property and bank accounts. Numerous FIRs were filed against the couple nationwide. Additionally, an FIR was lodged against Ashesh's father, Shailesh Mehta, by the Sohana police in SAS Nagar district, Punjab, on December 2. Shailesh was arrested and spent over two months in jail before being released on bail. However, in the same month, the Madhya Pradesh police cleared the couple of involvement in the drug case. Nonetheless, the EOW police arrested the couple in December 2023.

"There is prima facie evidence that not only has the said advocate forged signatures of my clients on various affidavits but also submitted the same before the court at Khed, thereby playing fraud on the judicial system as well," said Mehta's lawyer Hemant Ingle.

Aug 2022
Month fake affidavit was filed in court