Mumbai: Woman Arrested for Misusing Friend’s Signed Cheque, Misappropriating ₹4.78 Lakh in Kandivali

The Samta Nagar Police have arrested a 35-year-old woman for allegedly cheating her friend and misappropriating ₹4.78 lakh by misusing a signed cheque that was handed over to close a gold loan account. The accused has been identified as Deepika Shetty. She was arrested nearly a month after a case of cheating and criminal breach of trust was registered against her.

According to the police, complainant Swapnali Dange resides in the Thakur Village area of Kandivali and works in a private company, while her husband is employed as an accountant. In January 2025, her brother wanted to purchase a house and sought financial assistance from her. Since she did not have sufficient funds, she decided to avail a gold loan from a private finance company.

She subsequently pledged her gold jewellery at a finance company located in Thakur Complex and applied for a loan of ₹5 lakh. The company sanctioned a gold loan of ₹4.65 lakh at an annual interest rate of 24 percent. After the amount was transferred to her bank account, she sent the money to her brother.

Police said that after her brother later returned the money, Swapnali decided to repay the loan and retrieve her pledged gold ornaments. During this period, she approached her friend Deepika Shetty, who had known her for the past five years. Since Deepika worked near the finance company, Swapnali handed over a signed cheque to her for depositing it at the company to close the gold loan account.

However, the accused allegedly misused the cheque by filling in her own name and an amount of ₹4,78,600 before depositing it into her personal bank account.

The fraud came to light after Swapnali received a bank message confirming that the amount had been transferred to Deepika’s account. Shocked by the transaction, she confronted the accused, who allegedly promised to return the money within a couple of days. However, despite repeated follow-ups, the amount was not returned.

Following the complaint, the Samta Nagar Police registered a case and arrested the accused woman for cheating and misappropriation. Further investigation is underway.