Rajkot: A businessman accused of running a multi-crore investment scam has gone missing, defrauding at least 12 investors of Rs 1.33 crore. A Division police registered an FIR on Monday after the accused’s own family publicly disowned him.A 58-year-old businessman, Mustak Sabuwala, told police that the accused, Hitesh Gohil, lured investors by projecting himself as a cloth merchant, a credit card agent for various banks and a share market investor. He allegedly promised large commission payouts on short-term investments.Sabuwala and Gohil had known each other for about 14 years as their sons studied in the same school. Exploiting this long association, Gohil persuaded Sabuwala to invest by offering commissions of 1% to 1.5% every 15 days. Between Nov 2021 and 2023, Sabuwala and his sister-in-law invested over Rs 37 lakh.According to the FIR, Gohil initially paid some sums in cash towards ‘commissions’ to build confidence. He also issued “security cheques” from various banks, which later turned out to be worthless.The fraud came to light on May 21, 2026, when Gohil’s father published a public notice in local newspapers, declaring that the family had severed all ties with him and would not be responsible for any of his financial dealings.Alarmed by the notice, Sabuwala tried to contact Gohil but found his mobile phone switched off. When investors went to Gohil’s shop and home, they discovered that both were locked and that he had fled the city with his family.Police said Sabuwala was not the only victim. At least 11 other investors, mainly from Jamnagar, were allegedly duped. The total amount involved stands at Rs 1.33 crore. Other victims are Ravi Vaghela, who invested Rs 23 lakh, Juma Katariya, who put in Rs 12.50 lakh, and Gajendrasinh Jhala, who invested Rs 12 lakh.The accused allegedly collected money through cheques, UPI transfers, credit card transactions and cash.A Division police registered the FIR under BNS Section 316(5) and began an investigation to trace Gohil and recover the funds.
