A 33-year-old hotel employee, Samadhan Ramesh Sonawane, was swindled out of Rs 28 lakh under the guise of a promised clerk position in the revenue department. Sonawane, a resident of Urulikanchan and native of Jalgaon, filed a complaint against the accused couple, Siddharth Devidas Jhende, 35, and his wife Seema, at Vimantal police station. An FIR has been lodged under sections 406, 420, 465, 468, 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). According to the FIR, Sonawane, working at Magnus Square Business Hotel in Viman Nagar, Pune, encountered Siddharth Jhende during his stay at the hotel from February 20 to March 15. Jhende allegedly boasted of connections within the state government and assured Sonawane of securing a lucrative job without the need for an exam.
Jhende allegedly gained Sonawane's trust by claiming familiarity with government officials and displaying purported ties to influential figures, including the Pawar family. Sonawane was persuaded to hand over nearly Rs 28,78,203 in multiple installments between February 26 and March 12.The accused even escorted Sonawane to Mumbai, showing him government buildings and introducing him to purported officials. On March 06, the accused Siddharth provided Sonawane with a fake joining order and asked him to join on March 12 with all his educational documents. Later the accused informed him to join on March 14.
On March 14 Sonawane received a call from Seema. She informed him that Siddharth was a fraud, later Siddharth informed Sonawane that Seema was trying to influence him as they had a fight and took him to the Pune District Collector’s office for joining and later informed him that his joining was postponed to March 15 as there was a workload in the revenue department. However, Sonawane realized the scam when he attempted to join the revenue department on March 15 and found the job offer was fraudulent. Upon discovering the couple had checked out of the hotel without settling their bill, Sonawane confronted them but received evasive responses regarding his money. As of now, no arrests have been made, and the Vimantal police are continuing their investigation into the matter."