
Gym owner's expansion dream sunk by 50L investment fraud
Ahmedabad: A gym owner from the city hoping to expand his business was allegedly cheated out of Rs 50 lakh by a group of individuals who promised high returns through investments in a company.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
He had saved the money for his expansion plans, he stated in his complaint filed with CID Crime on Thursday. According to case details, the man runs a fitness centre with branches in Gota, Bodakdev, and Makarba. From Rs 50 lakh saved from profits, he was planning to open a fourth branch near Akhbarnagar. The complaint states that he shared this plan with a friend who introduced him to a man claiming to offer investment schemes with good returns via RTGS.
The complainant met several individuals, including a man named Madhavrao Ugale and others, at different locations in Ahmedabad and Surat. He was shown documents of a company named MOS Utility Limited and was assured of high returns through legal bank transactions.
On March 19, the complainant and his team went to an office in Surat where a person named Sudhir, posing as an employee of a firm named Patel Rajeshkumar Kantilal Angadia Pedhi, accepted the Rs 50 lakh in cash.
He gave them a torn Rs 10 note and instructed them to return with it to receive their investment back. Sudhir then left saying he was going to another branch to count the money, but never returned.
The complainant later found out that the office and the man's business card were fake, and the angadia firm was fictitious. Only Rs 40,000 was returned through multiple small RTGS transactions. A cheque of Rs 50 lakh issued later by one of the accused also turned out to be fraudulent.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
The complaint names Madhavrao Ugale, Sudhir, a man identified as Vicky, and one Ankit Kumar Mishra from Surat, and an unnamed person, and accuses them of forming a group to deceive the complainant using fake documents and setups.
CID Crime has booked them under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for cheating and criminal breach of trust.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Time of India
28 minutes ago
- Time of India
Are you saving enough for retirement? Many aren't
HighlightsThe survey conducted by Grant Thornton Bharat revealed that nearly 83 percent of participants primarily rely on three retirement products: Employees' Provident Fund, gratuity, and National Pension System, indicating a lack of diversification in retirement portfolios. While over half (55%) of respondents expect a monthly pension exceeding Rs 1 lakh, only 11% believe their current investments are adequate to meet these expectations, highlighting a significant preparedness gap in retirement planning. A notable 74 percent of respondents contribute between 1 percent and 15 percent of their salary towards retirement plans, suggesting a cautious approach to savings that may be influenced by financial constraints or competing priorities. Higher earners contribute more to retirement products , but the overall contribution is still relatively low for most individuals, suggesting that many people may not be saving enough for retirement, a survey showed on Wednesday. Nearly 83 per cent of participants relied largely on three retirement products: EPF, gratuity, and NPS. 'This reliance on traditional schemes suggests limited diversification in retirement portfolios ,' said the survey conducted by consulting firm Grant Thornton Bharat. The results showed that more than half (55 per cent) of respondents expect a monthly pension exceeding Rs 1 lakh. However, only 11 per cent believe their current investments are sufficient to meet these expectations. 'This stark disparity highlights a significant preparedness gap that needs to be addressed through better financial planning and awareness,' said the report, the survey for which was conducted by the consulting firm in Aug and Sept last year. Govt-backed plans remain the most preferred option, with 39 per cent of participants favouring such schemes. About 27 per cent of respondents showed a preference for private plans offered by reputable financial institutions. High-risk, high-return plans were particularly popular among younger respondents, with 31 per cent of participants under 25 years interested in these options. 'This finding suggests a growing appetite for risk among the younger demographic,' said the report. With regard to the age of retirement, about 56 per cent of respondents said they plan to retire between the age of 55 and 65. 'This age range aligns with standard retirement practices in India and reflects the broader societal norms regarding work and retirement in the country,' according to the report. Younger respondents, particularly those who were 25 years or below, preferred early retirement. Among this group, 43 per cent showed a preference to retire between 45-55 years. 'Trend indicates shift in attitudes among younger employees, who may prioritise work-life balance & leisure over extended career spans,' said the report. The majority, 74 per cent of respondents, said that they contribute between 1 per cent and 15 per cent of their salary toward retirement plans. 'This contribution range indicates a cautious approach to savings, possibly influenced by financial constraints or competing priorities,' said the report. Asked to respond about their knowledge of pension calculations, 52 per cent of respondents said they were somewhat aware of how their pensions are determined, while 30% admitted to being completely unaware.


India Today
35 minutes ago
- India Today
Top Naxal leader carrying Rs 40 lakh bounty killed in encounter in Chhattisgarh
A top Naxal leader carrying a bounty of Rs40 lakh was killed in an encounter with security forces on Thursday in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district. The operation took place in the National Park area, where intelligence inputs had indicated the presence of senior Naxal on the information, a joint team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Special Task Force (STF) launched a coordinated operation in the forested region. An exchange of fire ensued between the joint forces and the Naxals, continuing from the early hours of the the encounter, Central Committee member Sudhakar, one of the most wanted Naxal leaders, was gunned down. He was carrying a reward of Rs 40 lakh on his head. Sudhakar's death comes close on the heels of the killing of Nambala Keshav Rao, also known as Basavaraju, who was killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh in May. He was among 30 Naxals neutralised in a joint operation led by the District Reserve Guard (DRG) in the dense Abujhmad forests - a Naxal Keshav Rao, the general secretary of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), has been part of the Naxalite movement since the late 1970s and was one of its most feared strategists. He carried a bounty of Rs 1.5 crore and was wanted in connection with several deadly attacks on security forces across multiple Home Minister Amit Shah called the operation "a landmark achievement in the battle to eliminate Naxalism". He called Nambala Keshav Rao the "backbone of the Naxal movement", adding that it was the "first time in three decades of Bharat's battle against Naxalism that a general secretary-ranked leader has been neutralised by our forces".Notably, 16 Naxalites, including six carrying a collective cash reward of Rs 25 lakh, surrendered in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Monday, police 16 cadres, including a woman, turned themselves in before senior police and CRPF officials, citing disappointment with the "hollow" and "inhuman" Maoist ideology and atrocities by ultras on local tribals, Sukma Superintendent of Police Kiran Chavan InTrending Reel


India Today
35 minutes ago
- India Today
Influencer Sharmishta Panoli gets interim bail in Op Sindoor post case
The Calcutta High Court has granted interim bail to the 22-year-old influencer and law student Sharmishta Panoli, arrested in the Operation Sindoor post part of the bail conditions, she has been barred from leaving the country without prior permission from the Chief Judicial Magistrate. She has also been directed to deposit a sum of Rs 10, High Court has also instructed the Kolkata Police to act on the petition filed by Panoli regarding threats to her safety, which she had raised before her Panoli, a fourth-year law student from Pune, was arrested on May 30 in Gurugram after a now-deleted video allegedly hurting religious sentiments triggered widespread outrage. A Kolkata court had remanded her to judicial custody till June Sharmishta Panoli's father, Prithviraj, denied the Kolkata Police's claim that his daughter was absconding. He told India Today TV that both he and Sharmishta had gone to Lalbazar, the Kolkata Police headquarters. He added they also visited Anandapur police station. Despite this, the police declared them absconding and went to court to get an arrest warrant against also claimed that the Kolkata Police had shared false and misleading information. To counter their claims, Prithviraj presented two "visitor slips," which he said were issued by the Kolkata Police headquarters at Lalbazar on May 15. The slips contained the names and photographs of both Sharmistha and had deleted the video and issued an unconditional apology, but by then several FIRs had been filed against her. The High Court later said that all these FIRs would be combined into one case, which would be investigated in Kolkata. Following this, the next hearing took place on Thursday and Panoli was granted interim the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday had refused to grant interim bail to Panoli, saying that freedom of speech is not absolute and does not allow anyone to hurt religious Reel