Kandivali Police have arrested a man accused of cheating four members of his own family of nearly Rs 19 lakh by luring them into investing in shares. The accused, identified as Dhaval Vimalkant Kakkad, was arrested after remaining absconding for around nine months. He is currently in police custody and is being interrogated. Police investigations have also revealed the involvement of a co-accused, Deep Ashar, who allegedly conspired with him in the fraud.
According to police, the complainant is a practising advocate at the Bombay High Court and resides with his family in the Marve Road area of Malad. Dhaval Kakkad, a cousin of the complainant, was engaged in the share brokerage business and operated a private firm from Kandivali.
Police said the accused allegedly convinced his relatives to invest in shares by promising attractive returns. Since he was a close family member, the complainant and his family trusted him and invested Rs 15.64 lakh in various shares through him.
Around three years ago, the accused reportedly informed them about an upcoming IPO of an insurance company and assured them of higher returns compared to other investment options. Acting on his advice, the family invested an additional Rs 8.55 lakh on behalf of the complainant, his parents and his brother.
However, after making the investments, the family allegedly did not receive the promised shares. Suspicion arose after discrepancies were noticed in the Demat account statements provided by the accused. The family then repeatedly demanded either the shares or a refund of their money. Following persistent requests, the accused returned Rs 5 lakh.
During this period, the complainant allegedly came to know that a case of cheating had earlier been registered against the accused at Sanjay Circle Police Station in Jaipur in connection with another investor fraud case. Police said the accused had approached the Rajasthan High Court seeking anticipatory bail, but his plea was rejected.
Subsequently, he allegedly approached the Supreme Court and settled the matter with the complainant investor by paying Rs 20 lakh, following which the case against him was closed.
Police said a similar pattern was followed in the present case, where the accused allegedly collected Rs 24.19 lakh from the complainant and his family members for share investments. Investigations revealed that out of the total amount, he purchased 39,000 units of an ETF of a private company and, after refunding Rs 5 lakh, allegedly misappropriated the remaining Rs 19.19 lakh.
Following the complaint, Kandivali Police registered a case against Dhaval Kakkad and Deep Ashar under charges of cheating and criminal breach of trust. Both were declared wanted and a search operation was launched.
During the investigation, police traced and arrested Dhaval Kakkad, who had been absconding for the last nine months. He was produced before a local court in Borivali, which remanded him to police custody for further investigation.