Pune's firm owner, aide held for cheating 44 of Rs 2.9 crore

PUNE: The city cyber police on Friday arrested investment firm owner Rahul Vijay Rathod (35) of Kalyaninagar and his aide, Omkar Sonawane (28), on the charge of cheating 44 people from various parts of the state of Rs2.93 crore between January 2022 and March this year. The action followed a complaint by a Sangli-based cyber cafe owner (32) on Thursday evening. According to the complainant, he had invested Rs 31.86 lakh in the firm after watching videos and other information provided to him by the company.
Apart from the complainant, 43 others invested money in the firm. Following the complaint, a team headed by senior inspector Meenal Patil and inspector Chandrashekhar Sawant arrested the duo from the Kalyaninagar area. The police are searching for two more persons in the case. A case of cheating, criminal breach of trust and the common intention was registered against them. The police also invoked provisions of the Information Technology Act and Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act against them. The arrested duo were produced before a city court on Friday evening and the court remanded them in police custody till April 18, the police said.
According to the police, the investment firm owner and his aides were running an online video channel and they used to transmit its link randomly. “The firm owner invited investments by claiming that he was dealing with cryptocurrencies and forex trade and promised high returns on the investments. The firm floated various schemes for the investors,” Patil said. “The people invested money ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 50 lakh in the firm. However, the company did not give any returns to the investors nor the company returned the initial investment made by the investors," Patil said.