Navi Mumbai businessman cheated of Rs 2 cr by person posing as govt official

Thane: A 42-year-old businessman from Navi Mumbai township in Maharashtra has allegedly been cheated of Rs 2 crore by a person who posed as a government official, police said on Tuesday.

The victim, resident of Nerul in Navi Mumbai, had business setbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In January 2021, he came in contact with the accused, a resident of Parel in neighbouring Mumbai, who posed as a high-ranking official with the central government's health ministry, an official from Nerul police station said.

The imposter promised to secure a loan for the victim, while claiming he had connections with the CEO of a bank. He proposed mortgaging a property to obtain collateral for the loan.

The victim told him that he did not have a property to mortgage, the official said.

The accused then told him about another individual purportedly seeking a loan, claiming the latter could mortgage his property and the loan amount could be distributed equally among the two.

The victim, lured by the offer, gave Rs 2 crore, which he received from a Telangana contractor for the Pune Metro project, to the imposter, the official said.

When the victim requested to meet the other person seeking loan and the bank official, the imposter evaded him and later became unreachable, he said.

Based on the victim's complaint, the Nerul police station on Sunday registered a case against the imposter under Indian Penal Code sections for cheating and forgery, the official said.

A probe was on into the case.