A shocking case of cheating has come to light from South Mumbai’s Colaba area, where a husband-wife duo allegedly duped a Mumbai Police constable of nearly Rs 35 lakh by offering partnership in a new business venture and promising lucrative returns on investment. The Colaba Police have registered a case of cheating and criminal breach of trust against the accused couple and initiated an investigation.
The accused have been identified as Pankaj Masand and Namrata Pankaj Masand. Police said a separate cheating case related to a flat transaction has already been registered against the duo, and they are suspected to have committed similar frauds in the past as well.
According to police officials, the complainant is attached to the Mumbai Police and resides at the police camp on Sir Pochkhanawala Road in Worli. In February 2023, he came in contact with Pankaj Masand, who introduced himself as a businessman and claimed that he owned a casino business in Goa. Masand allegedly told the complainant that the business was highly profitable and that he was planning to launch a new company named ‘Jiaram Enterprises’.
Over time, the two developed close relations and frequent family interactions. The complainant often visited the accused couple’s residence in Colaba. During these meetings, Pankaj allegedly persuaded him to invest in the new company by assuring him of good returns and partnership benefits.
Police said the complainant decided to invest in the company in his wife’s name, believing it would provide her with a stable source of income. For the investment, he allegedly took loans of Rs 5.62 lakh in October 2023 and Rs 7.36 lakh in February 2024 from a police society. Apart from this, he also paid cash amounts to the accused for business purposes.
The complainant’s wife and Namrata Masand were shown as partners in the company. Initially, the business appeared operational, and two employees were reportedly hired. The complainant’s wife even visited the office twice a week.
However, the accused allegedly later claimed that the business was taking time to stabilise and convinced the complainant to provide more money, saying that funds invested in the Goa business had got stuck. Acting on their advice, the complainant allegedly mortgaged his wife’s gold ornaments and arranged further funds.
Police said that over two years, the complainant paid the accused Rs 12.93 lakh obtained through loans from the police society, besides paying EMIs worth Rs 3.30 lakh. He also allegedly arranged Rs 11 lakh by pledging gold jewellery and gave another Rs 8 lakh in cash, taking the total amount handed over to the accused to Rs 35.23 lakh.
Despite the huge investment, the complainant allegedly did not receive any returns from the business. During this period, he learnt that the accused couple had allegedly cheated another woman in a flat sale-purchase deal and that a cheating case had already been registered against them at Colaba Police Station.
Suspecting fraud, the complainant repeatedly demanded his money back. However, the accused allegedly kept avoiding him on various pretexts and continued sending repeated messages to mislead him.
After realising he had been cheated, the complainant approached the Colaba Police and lodged a complaint. Following preliminary verification, police registered an FIR against Pankaj Masand and Namrata Masand under sections related to cheating and criminal breach of trust. Further investigation is underway.
Police officials said they are also probing whether the accused couple has duped other people using a similar modus operandi.