Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has arrested two directors in connection with a massive corporate fraud involving forged share certificates and illegal transfer of company assets worth over ₹1,000 crore.
The accused, identified as Mangesh Kadam (64) and Mamta Singh (44), were produced before the Esplanade Court on Thursday. The court remanded them in police custody till 16 September for further investigation.
According to the EOW, the case was registered based on a complaint by businessman Rajat Jhunjhunwala. The accused allegedly fabricated Form MGE-7 and fake shareholding certificates of Shahajas Developers Pvt. Ltd. and its subsidiary JLS Realty Pvt. Ltd.. Using these forged documents, they fraudulently transferred Jhunjhunwala’s ownership rights, completely ousting him from his stake in the companies.
Investigations revealed that the forged documents were even filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). Subsequently, nearly 39 lakh shares were illegally dematerialised and transferred to various shell companies.
A police officer stated that witness statements have further revealed that the accused also pledged the shares with IDBI Trusteeship Services using fake signatures and forged mortgage deeds, raising suspicions of collusion with other entities.
EOW officials said the fraud not only cheated the complainant but also caused a loss of more than ₹40 crore to the government, as property transfer documents were undervalued. The accused, along with other associates, allegedly misappropriated ownership and assets of Shahajas Developers and JLS Realty, collectively worth over ₹1,000 crore.