Pune: A man from Navi Mumbai allegedly duped a land developer from Uruli Kanchan of almost Rs12 crore in 2022 after promising him high returns on investment in a godown on a land parcel at Penukonda in Andhra Pradesh.The land developer approached police recently, after waiting over three years for the money. The Loni Kalbhor police on Thursday registered a case against the suspect. The economic offences wing of the Pune Crime Branch is investigating the case.An officer from the Loni Kalbhor police said the land developer came into contact with the suspect in 2022 through an acquaintance. The suspect told the victim that he was in the business of purchasing land near MIDC areas and selling these to different companies. He assured the victim of 10% profit if the latter invested money in land in the MIDC areas through his firm.“Believing him, the victim in March 2022 invested Rs 50lakh with the suspect. Within three days, the accused returned Rs25 lakh as a profit amount and assured the victim that he would return the capital of Rs50 lakh within 15 days,” the officer said.A few days later, the suspect allegedly approached the victim with a new investment offer. He told the victim that his firm would construct a godown on 28 acres of land in Andhra Pradesh. He requested the complainant to invest around Rs12 crore and promised Rs35 crore in return by the end of Dec 2022. The victim agreed and invested Rs12.6 crore.“The suspect gave three cheques of Rs5 crore each as security. When the victim did not get his money back, he deposited the cheques in the bank, which subsequently bounced,” the officer said.He said when the victim started pursuing the suspect for the money, the latter transferred Rs61 lakh. When the victim did not get his remaining money, he approached the police and lodged a complaint.A case was registered under sections 316 (criminal breach of trust) and 318 (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). “Our investigations are on,” the officer said.
