Grocery store chain owner arrested for duping customers of Rs 40 crore

He offered them 15-16 per cent returns on their investment; woman unearths fraud after checking stamp papers

The owner of Nutan Dal Mill, a chain of grocery stores and one of the leading businesses in the sector in Mumbai, has been arrested by Goregaon police for allegedly cheating a 34-year-old woman to the tune of Rs 41.5 lakh by promising her 15 per cent returns. Police said he duped a number of his customers using this modus operandi.

The case came to light after Anita Roopsingh Kadecha approached the police last month. Kadecha, an event decorator, said she had met the accused, Ketan Rambhiya, through a friend who had also invested money with him. Between June 2019 and December 2020, Kadecha invested a total of Rs 41.5 lakh. However, when she asked for returns, Rambhiya convinced her to keep the money with him for one more year for 16 per cent returns.  However, even after that said period was over, Rambhiya failed to return the money. Kadecha then examined the court stamp papers of her investments and found that most of the papers had the same serial number. After consulting with a lawyer, she approached the police.

The accused, Ketan Rambhiya

“The accused cheated people who have been his customers for years. He lures people to invest by promising 15 to 16 per cent yearly profit and gives them an agreement on a R100 court paper for the same. More than 100 people might have fallen prey to his scam and the amount cheated may cross Rs 40 crore,” said Kadecha. Based on her complaint, the police booked Rambhiya under relevant sections of the IPC and arrested him on Wednesday night. He was produced before the court and has been remanded in police custody till February 21.

A police officer said, “Original stamp papers have watermarks but no watermark is visible in the bond signed by the accused. He probably photocopied or printed them from somewhere. We are probing further.” “My client has been cheated of Rs 41.5 lakh by the accused who used a single stamp paper multiple times. The police machinery is probing the matter and there can be more victims cheated by him,” said advocate Mahesh Rajpopat, for Kadecha.

Rs 40cr
Amount accused is likely to have collected

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