Fraudster dupes 150 investors of over Rs 10 cr in investment scam

 

 

 

 

Around 150 investors lost more than Rs 10 crore after being lured with promises of high returns from stock market investments. The accused, identified as Arvind Yadavrao Parate (39), a resident of Sandesh City, Jamtha, allegedly collected huge sums from people under the pretext of investing their money in the share market. Following multiple complaints, the Butibori Police have registered a case against the accused. The complaint in this case was lodged by Gopal Vitthalrao Khambalkar (65), also a resident of Sandesh City and a retired Deputy Executive Engineer from the Koradi Thermal Power Station (KTPS).

 

According to police, Gopal met Arvind in 2022. During their meeting, Arvind introduced himself as an employee of a brokerage agency named Angel Ek and claimed to be involved in stock market investments. He promised Gopal that if he invested money through him, the amount would double within two years. Trusting his words, Gopal initially invested Rs 1 lakh in August 2022. Arvind gained his confidence by regularly paying interest on this amount. Gopal got encouraged by the returns and later invested more money. Arvind told him that he had launched two companies KY Share Market Trading and Academy in Somalwada and KY Micro Finance Limited in Butibori and convinced him to invest a larger amount. Between 2022 and 2023, Gopal invested a total of Rs 79.10 lakh including Rs 70.10 lakh in cash and jewellery worth Rs 9 lakh. However, after receiving the money, Arvind neither returned the principal amount nor paid any further interest.

 

When Gopal demanded repayment, Arvind allegedly started avoiding him. Later, Gopal discovered that more than 150 people had also been cheated in a similar way, with the total fraud amount running into several crores of rupees. Realising the extent of the scam, Gopal lodged a complaint with the Butibori Police Station. Superitendent of Police Dr Harssh Poddar said that a special team would be formed to arrest the accused who is currently absconding and the case would be transferred to the Economic Offences Wing for detailed investigation.