Mumbai: Dating app scamsters defrauded me of Rs 1.5 crore, says club owner

Hritik Verma and Jatin Gera, the accused (right), Azeem Siddique, the accused; Arshad Subedar, complainant

Scammers who lured customers to pubs via dating apps have allegedly been defrauding club owners of crores. This aspect of the racket came to light when Arshad Subedar, who owns clubs in Malad and Thane, filed a complaint with the Mumbai police on September 21. Subedar accused a public relations (PR) team - allegedly part of the dating apps gang - of cheating him out of more than Rs 1.5 crore.

According to the complainant, most of the accused are Delhi residents and were previously associated with Ankur Meena, a wanted figure in the dating app scam. After separating from Meena, one Jatin Gera allegedly began running a similar racket until the Bangur Nagar police busted the gang and arrested members of Meena's group.

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Subedar, who owns Hashtag 64, a club formerly known as Hope & Shine and Kings & Aces Lounge in Malad West, alleged that in February 2024, Gera and other accused, Azeem Siddique and Hritik Verma, approached his manager, Omkar, offering PR services to attract customers via Instagram promotions. The team was promised a five to 10 per cent commission on bills generated by referred customers. Subedar subsequently extended the team's services to his Thane club, The Slogan Night.

Subedar alleged that the PR agency was managing customer referrals and payments at both clubs as his manager had been unavailable due to a personal emergency. However, they allegedly delayed providing transaction details. Upon inspecting the stock, Subedar found discrepancies and shortages, leading him to review the club's CCTV footage. He discovered that while customers regularly made payments, the accused used personal QR codes and card machines.

After further investigation, Subedar realised that the gang had defrauded him of over Rs 1.5 crore in Malad club alone. He also concluded that the trio had colluded with the manager of Slogan Night. Subedar estimated that if the losses from the Thane and Malad lounges were added, the figure would exceed R2 crore. He also obtained screenshots of several transactions as evidence, which he plans to submit to authorities.

He told mid-day, "I was unaware of the scam until July. After that, I closed the Malad club and handed it to someone else to manage. The latter changed the name to Hashtag 64. After reading a mid-day article, I realised the PR team's modus operandi."

Gera was a close associate of Meena before he split to form his own team, which would allegedly lure dating app users with the help of women.

Subedar said, "The accused are operating in several clubs in Thane and Vashi, where women from dating apps are luring young men to these establishments and cheating them."

An officer from Malad police station said, "We have received the complaint letter which will be forwarded to an officer for investigation."

Other side

Gera, Verma and Siddique, meanwhile, stated that they had not engaged in any fraudulent activity. They said they had a tie-up with the club, under which they received a 5 to 10 per cent commission on the bills of those who came to the clubs due to social media promotions.

The said payments went directly to their accounts, while others went to the club's account, but the accounts were eventually settled and entries were recorded in the daily register.

The trio alleged that Subedar had made several false accusations against them and that their team was even assaulted, for which an FIR had been registered in Thane. They claimed that despite Subedar continually issuing threats, "due to a sense of brotherhood, we have refrained from lodging complaints".

They claimed they had videos and financial records and, if required, would produce them before the authorities.

They further stated that they have no connection with Meena or dating app scamsters. They said their role was to promote the club on social media using attractive offers and they maintain similar partnerships with other clubs in Mumbai and Thane.

Sept 21
Day Subedar filed police complaint