Aurangabad, May 30:
Mukesh Suryawanshi, the fraudster who duped several persons at various cities in the state by luring them with cheap gold, is currently behind the bars. Suryawanshi impressed people by his posh lifestyle and duped them of lakhs of rupees.
A 28 years old woman from Baner, Pune gave Rs 42.80 lakh to the cheat in January 2018. He returned only Rs 17.59 lakh to her. After July 2018, he stopped repayments. He later fled to Dubai. After living there three years, he arrived in Goa on March 6 this year. The police arrested him after arrival at the Goa Airport. He was later handed over to the Mumbai police for further investigation.
Farmer from Dhule falls prey to his guile
The suspect duped a farmer from Dhule of five tolas gold on the lure to get double profit on this investment. The farmer said that Mukesh and his parents were high-profile and had high living standards. Hence, everyone easily believed in them and their promise of higher returns. They earned confidence of the people by making assured repayments for the first three months but later ceased to pay. Suryawanshi has duped around 60 such farmers from Dhule, Nashik, Jalgaon and other districts.
Women from Thane also cheated
Suryawanshi duped two women from Thane district. He told one of them that he will get gold for them at less price than the market. Similarly, in 2013, he duped the other woman saying that he will help her sell her gold at price higher than the market price. Both the women were left high and dry.
Moreover, the conman had cheated several married women on the pretext of marrying them and accepting them along with their children. He took lakhs of rupees from them. He used to find such women on Facebook and duped women from Pune and Ahmedabad in this fashion.
Plaint from alert investor led to arrest
Suryawanshi was caught in the police net due to an alert complainant Satyanand Gaitonde who works as an agent with the National Security Service Canada. Suryawanshi duped him and his family members of around Rs 60 lakh to Rs 70 lakh. Gaitonde has a flat at Dahisar area in Mumbai. He used to come to Mumbai occasionally. According to him, he met Suryawanshi in 2013 on a film set. Later, Suryawanshi contacted him through Facebook and WhatsApp. He gained Gaitonde’s confidence and later asked him to invest in gold as he has started a company. During 2018-19, Gaitonde invested Rs 15.62 lakh. His family members too put in money. When realized that he has taken for a ride, he tried to contact Suryawanshi, but in vain. He later lodged a complaint with the police. Gaitonde has called for strict action against the cheat and also urged people to come forward in large numbers to lodge complaints so that another fraudster like Suryawanshi does not emerge.