A 56-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly masterminding a multi-crore housing scam in Navi Mumbai that duped thousands of investors in the national capital with false promises of land, high returns and fake government approvals, an official on Friday said.
The accused, identified as Dattatray Ganpati Mohite, was caught from Maharashtra’s Raigad, he said.
The officer said that Mohite, who carried a cash reward of Rs 50,000 on his head, was wanted in four separate cases registered with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) and one case with Amar Colony Police Station.
“Mohite was the mastermind behind a massive real estate scam involving a fictitious housing scheme named 'Pragati Valley Project' at Karjat, Navi Mumbai. He, along with associates, allegedly lured thousands of Delhi investors to put money into a non-existent project through false promises of land ownership, high returns and fake government approvals,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (CP), Crime, Sanjay Kumar Sain.
The accused and his firm, Pragati Land & Housing Corporation, in conspiracy with more than 70 fake estate companies launched an aggressive marketing campaign using forged brochures, pre-launch offers and fabricated documents, he added.
The victims were induced to invest via cheques and cash, amounting to over Rs 20 crore, police said.
“Investigations later revealed that the company did not own any land, had no government registration or approvals and abruptly shut down operations by 2010 following which the accused and his associates absconded,” the Additional CP said.
All cases pertain to offences under relevant sections of the IPC relating to cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust and conspiracy, police said.
The proclaimed offender status was declared between 2018 and 2019 by the courts in Rohini and southeast districts of Delhi, they said.
A police team conducted surveillance and groundwork over several days even posing as local contractors to gather actionable intelligence, officials said.
The team traced Mohite to the jurisdiction of Karjat Police Station in Raigad, they said.
A coordinated raid was conducted earlier on Wednesday, resulting in Mohite's arrest, police said.
He was produced before a local court in Raigad and a transit remand was obtained for his production before the competent court in Delhi, they said.
Further investigation is on to identify the wider network of accomplices and to recover assets procured through the fraudulent scheme, police said.