Pune: Businessman Duped of Rs 4.5 Crore by Citing 20% Investment on Tender by Fake Ministry Director: Police Investigate

Pune: A businessman has been swindled of Rs 4.5 crore by a scammer posing as a director in the Ministry of Heavy Industries, who promised high returns on investments in tenders.

Sanjay Ramchandra Hazare, a 50-year-old resident of Moshi, filed a complaint with the Bhosari MIDC Police Station in this case, leading to a complaint being registered against Omkar Shyamrao Joshi from Pimple Saudagar and Sadashiv Namdev Pund from Moshi.

The fraudulent scheme took place between February 25, 2021, and September 2022 at locations in Moshi and Ashoka Hotel, Nashik Phata. According to the police, Hazare was deceived by the accused, who falsely claimed they could secure tenders for various MIDC companies and provide a corporate license and vendor code to the plaintiff. They enticed the plaintiff with promises of attractive monthly returns of up to 20 percent on his investment in the tender.

Omkar Joshi pretended to be an employee of the Central Ministry and eventually convinced Hazare that he had been selected as a director in the Union Ministry of Heavy Industries. Gaining Hazare’s trust, Joshi then demanded and received Rs 10.58 crore for investment purposes. However, this money was neither invested in tenders nor used to acquire trade licenses and vendor codes as promised.

Initially, the scammers returned Rs 6.17 crore to Hazare, including Rs 4.75 crore as a profit and Rs 1.16 crore as part of an agreement. However, the accused cheated the plaintiff by not giving the remaining Rs 4.41 crore to him.

After that, the plaintiff registered a complaint against the accused, and Assistant Police Inspector Satyawan Bhuyarkar of the Financial Crimes Branch is leading the investigation into this financial fraud.