A couple has been booked by the Kapurbavdi police in Thane for allegedly duping several investors to the tune of lakhs of rupees by promising lucrative returns on investment. So far, 46 people have come forward to claim a total loss of Rs 69 lakh by investing in the forex trading scheme launched the couple, the police said.

The complainant in the case is NM Pawar, 63, a retired engineer from the state Water Resources Department. According to the complaint, in 2018, Pawar had come in contact with accused couple, SP Palande and his wife Shraddha, both residents of Thane. Palande told Pawar that he runs a consultancy company and invests in forex trading.

“Palande told Pawar that on investment of Rs 1 lakh the investor would get an assured return of Rs 5,000 per month. The victim was also informed that the money will be invested in the company's account and the company would deposit the return amount in the investor's account directly,” a police officer said.

The victim and his family members invested in the scheme and in 2018, received Rs 9.25 lakh, and Rs 3.20 lakh in 2019, the police said. “The couple defaulted on paying returns from October 2019. When the victim confronted the couple, they started giving excuses and kept assuring to give returns at the earliest. Later the couple stopped responding to the calls from the investors and couldn’t be traced,” the officer said.

As per the complaint, between November 2018 and July 2020, the couple duped 46 investors to the tune of Rs 69 lakh after which a criminal offence was registered on August 11 under the Indian Penal Code sections 34 (common intention), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), and Section 3 (fraudulent default by financial establishment) of the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act.