Woman cheated investors of Rs 39 lakh, assuring 10 PC monthly returns

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

Under the lure of ‘10 per cent monthly returns,’ a woman and her family defrauded investors of a whopping Rs 39 lakh through a bogus finance company. A case has been registered with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) against the company Samagra Sansiddhi Financial, and so far, eight complainants have come forward. Police believe that more complaints are likely to emerge.

The accused have been identified as Rupali Namdev Raut (Gunjal), her father Namdev Raut, brother Jagdish Raut, and husband Eknath Gunjal, all residents of Suyog Apartment, Bansilalnagar. The complaint was initially filed by Prasanna Pathak (58, Sahakarnagar) with the EOW. Pathak learned about Rupali's company through a friend. In January 2024, Rupali contacted him with an offer of 10% returns on investments. Trusting her, Pathak invested Rs 4 lakh on January 24 and another Rs 1 lakh on February 8. On February 22, Rupali returned Rs 50,000, which increased his trust. By August 2024, he had invested a total of Rs 8.5 lakh. However, when he demanded the money back, she began evading him.

Family support to the fraud

Rupali repeatedly assured investors that her father worked with the municipal corporation and her husband was employed at the Bank of Baroda, which increased her credibility among investors. However, when investors went to their homes to recover their money, they were handed cheques. None of these cheques cleared due to insufficient funds.

Threats of false cases and suicide

When investors kept demanding their money back, Rupali gave them a notarised written promise stating she would return the entire amount within 16 months. However, the money was never returned. Instead, she attempted to pressure the investors by threatening to file false complaints against them and even threatened to commit suicide.

Eventually, eight investors approached the EOW, after which police registered a case against Rupali, her husband, father, and brother. PSI Devidas Shewale is currently investigating the matter.