Six persons, who had invested Rs 91.14 lakh in various post office saving schemes in central Mumbai, were allegedly duped by an agent, who fraudulently siphoned off their entire deposits, police said today.
An FIR was registered at Mahim police station last Wednesday against prime accused Umesh Doshi and his associate Paresh Parikh, both of whom are still at large, for cheating investors since August 2014.
The victims had deposited their money in various post office savings schemes, like monthly income scheme (MIS), recurring deposit account, time deposit account, senior citizen savings scheme (SCSS).
However, the accused siphoned off the investors’ money from these accounts, claimed complainant Sakshi Pujari, sub divisional inspector with Indian Post Office, in a written complaint to police.
According to police, Doshi was usually seen on a prowl for potential investors in and around the Indian post office located in Mahim.
He had convinced six investors over a period of time to put in their money in various post office savings schemes, police said.
“Since long Doshi had been operating near the post office as an agent. He managed to gain confidence of the people and hence investors often approached him for deposits. He used to suggest them the best schemes with good interest returns and used to do all the paper work for the investors,” a police officer said quoting the victims.
Police suspect that the accused might have duped many more people in a similar fashion in the past.
Asked about the case details, Deputy Police Commissioner (Zone V) Mahesh Patil said, “The victims have deposited their money in various schemes at the Mahim post office. The victims’ investments to the tune of Rs. 91.14 lakh have been fraudulently withdrawn by the wanted accused.”
The modus operandi of the accused can be uncovered in detail only after their arrests; Patil said refusing to divulge any further details.
The accused were booked under IPC sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).
