Latest news with #Obhan
Hindustan Times
20-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Man who ran fake finance company in Chembur arrested
MUMBAI: The police on Sunday arrested a Chembur resident who allegedly ran Access Fin Services, a fake finance company, to lure gullible people into investing in a fake scheme by promising them 10 to 20% returns. The accused, Praveen Obhan, had duped senior citizens who retired from government departments like the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the police department by convincing them to invest their entire life's savings, said a police officer. The case that led to his arrest was based on a complaint from one of his victims, Neelam Chiplunkar, a Chembur resident. Chiplunkar and her family are involved in the real estate business. In her complaint, she said a mutual friend introduced her and her husband to Obhan's firm, which they visited in July. Obhan introduced them to various investment schemes, including one 'World cup special monthly investment scheme' in which a ₹40 lakh investment for 15 months will give investors ₹8 lakh returns beginning from the fourth month. At the end of a year, investors would be rewarded with ₹96 lakh. Lured by this, the complainant said she invested ₹40 lakh with Obhan's firm. He also gave a pamphlet of this scheme to the complainant so she could promote it, said a police officer. 'She claims to have given him ₹40 lakh after she was promised high interest, but she neither got any interest nor her principal amount,' said Navnath Dhawale, deputy commissioner of police (zone 6). However, in January this year, the accused gave her ₹4 lakh as returns and asked to further invest this in the 'Money bond daily scheme' (another fake scheme). He added that several people have submitted written complaints to the Govandi police in the past four to five days, making the alleged defrauded amount go up to around ₹2 crore. The accused was produced before the court on Monday and remanded to police custody till May 23.
Indian Express
19-05-2025
- Indian Express
Mumbai: Man promising bogus investment returns on ‘World Cup scheme' arrested
THE MUMBAI police Sunday arrested a Chembur resident for allegedly duping people by offering them high returns on investment schemes. He had floated the scheme in 2024 and named it the 'World Cup Scheme' to coincide with the T20 cricket world cup held in 2024. So far, the police have received around six complaints from people who collectively invested around Rs 1.5 crore with the accused identified as Pravin Obhan. Sources, however, said that the number of complainants is set to rise substantially in the coming days as several others also invested in the lucrative schemes offered by Obhan. It later came to light that Obhan had also been arrested in 2014 by the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai police in connection with a money doubling scheme. The FIR was registered by Govandi police on the complaint of one Neelam Chiplunkar. In her complaint, she said that on July 15 last year, they were informed about investment schemes offered by Obhan that offered high returns. Accordingly, they went to his Chembur office where he told them that if they invested Rs 40 lakh, after 4 months, every month they would be paid Rs 8 lakh for a year which would totally come up to Rs 96 lakhs at a return rate of 20 per cent interest. He said that this was a 'World Cup Special' scheme. Accordingly, Chiplunkar's family paid Rs 40 lakh to Obhan. For the first few months, he returned part of the amount he promised and said that the remaining amount would be invested in a 'Money Bond daily' scheme that would enable them to earn high profits. This went on till February 2025, when he completely stopped paying the monthly amounts promised earlier. The family said that they called him several times and went to his office, however he kept making excuses instead of paying them the promised amount. Following this, the complainant found out about several others who had similarly invested in Obhan's schemes but had not received their money back. Later, the complainant approached the Govandi police earlier this month following which an FIR was registered against Obhan on Sunday under sections of the The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2019 following which he was placed under arrest. An officer said that Obhan was produced before court and remanded to police custody till May 23. An officer said, ' While we have heard that several people have lost money in his schemes. So far, we have seven complainants who have totally lost Rs 1.5 crore. Some more complainants may come forward in the next few days.'
