Borivali police arrested a 37-year-old man for stealing cars from rental companies and running a travel agency. The police identified the thief as Parvin Misal.
To finance his extravagant lifestyle, Misal fraudulently mortgaged cars he leased from individuals to third parties. According to the police, the accused would pawn the cars he rented to gullible purchasers, depriving the rightful owners of their possessions.
The scam was exposed after numerous complaints from victims who never got their cars back. In 2023, Misal first met one of the complainants, a 27-year-old male who was also involved in the second-hand automobile trade. The complainant claims that Misal got in touch with him last year and asked for a car to hire for ten days. He trusted him because Misal had rented cars from him before, so he gave him his Creta car for Rs. 30,000, or Rs. 3,000 a day.
But Misal refused to return the car after the rental period was over. After being contacted, he further deceived the complainant by extending the rental for an additional 15 days and gave Rs. 5,000 as an advance. Misal ceased returning calls after the second deadline, which raised questions.
Police said that the complainant started to inquire about the whereabouts of Misal and learnt that Misal had mortgaged his car to a woman staying in Dahisar. When the complainant contacted her, she said that the vehicle she rented was returned to Misal.
After investigating further, it was revealed that Misal had similarly scammed many car owners. He rented cars, mortgaged them, and spent the money earned on his extravagant lifestyle, police said.
Police said that the Creta owner approached them in November 2024 and registered a complaint against Misal. After he registered a case against Misal, an investigation was launched.
Police issued notices to the accused, asking him to appear before them, but he did not respond to any of the notices. He was then arrested on February 28. An official said that the police sought the court’s permission to trace and arrest him.
The offender faces a sentence of less than seven years under the applicable laws.
Police recorded the statement of the Dahisar woman. Another victim has also come to the MHB police station, confirming that Misal defrauded him using the same plan. The authorities claim that the accused has used this swindle to defraud more than six persons. According to the aforementioned officer, Misal has been taken into custody, and a formal report has been lodged against him in response to the Creta owner's complaint. The officer said that the police are currently working to identify more victims and recover the scammed vehicle.