Mumbai: Software engineer dupes 11 investors of Rs 2 crore

(From left) Kishan Katnhar, his brother Niraj and friend Anwar Ansari

The Malwani police have arrested a software engineer and booked two others for allegedly duping 11 investors of more than R2 crore after promising them sizeable returns on a monthly basis.

Kishan Katnhar, 34, was arrested from Charkop on August 31, but his younger brother Niraj, 31, who has an MBA degree, and his friend Anwar Ansari, 28, are still at large. Niraj is reportedly in hiding outside Maharashtra while Ansari is in Dubai where he runs a cafe. The complainant, Mohammed Irfan Khan, 28, who runs a catering business in Malwani, had approached the police and filed a complaint in January.

As per Khan's statement, he and his family members had invested over Rs 92 lakh in the fraudulent scheme between November 2016 and December 2017. Ansari had brought the scheme run by Kishan and Niraj, who were living in Bhandup at the time, to the attention of Khan, who was his friend.

Also read: Mumbai: Cyber-fraudster poses as company's MD, dupes CFO of Rs 8.55 lakh

The complainant said that he initially invested Rs 1 lakh and received Rs 15,000 every month for about five to six months. He then informed his family about the scheme and they put in a total of Rs 92 lakh. Each investor then received Rs 15,000 for a couple of months but this did not last.

The accused used to call the investors to their office in Bhandup where they would show them live coverage of the stock market on TV and tell them that their money had been invested there. They also used to allegedly show people fake screenshots indicating profits, thus increasing their victims' trust. Ultimately, they invested about R2 crores, said an official.

When the victims stopped getting returns, they approached the accused, but the latter refused to part with any money, according to the complainant. Khan also stated that the accused threatened him with weapons when he asked for his money back.

After receiving Khan's complaint, a special team was formed under the supervision of Senior Inspector Shekhar Bhalerao, API Nilesh Salunkhe, and it was this group that managed to nab Kishan. The police are searching for Niraj and preparing to issue a lookout notice against Ansari.