Mumbai: In a shocking case of fraud that took place in Mumbai, a 72-year-old businessman, Bharat Harakchand Shah, was allegedly duped of approximately Rs 35 crore. The man, a resident of Matunga West, claimed that a Goregaon-based brokerage firm has caused him a loss worth crores after its employees lured him with fake promises of ‘safe trading,’ NDTV reported.
According to reports, for four years, transactions worth crores were made in his and his wife’s demat accounts without his knowledge. He was unaware that the company’s representatives had access to his OTPs, emails, etc. Shah ran a guest house in Parel for nearly five decades, housing cancer patients and their families at affordable rent. After his father passed away in 1984, a significant amount of shares were transferred to him and his wife, but as they didn’t understand stocks, they never engaged in active trading.
NDTV reported that on a friend’s advice, he opened a demat and trading account under his and his wife’s name with the Goregaon-based firm in 2020. The inherited shares were then transferred to this company. Everything seemed normal initially, but later the company representatives began contacting Shah regularly and suggested that he not invest additional funds for trading. Under this pretext, two individuals, who were assigned to “manage” Shah’s portfolio, called him regularly to advise him on which orders to place.
Later, the company representatives visited his home and sent emails from their laptops. They allegedly entered OTP, opened, and responded to SMS and emails without Shah’s knowledge. The company took complete control of his account, NDTV reported.
Between March 2020 to June 2024, Shah received statements from the company assuring that everything was in order. He never suspected anything wrong. However, in July 2024, Shah received a call from the firm, claiming that there was a debit balance of Rs 35 crore in his and his wife’s accounts that he needs to pay immediately, or his shares would be sold.
Upon visiting the company, he discovered that his accounts had been heavily traded. Shares worth crores were sold, and his account was engaged in circular trades with the same parties several times. After consulting with his family, Shah sold his shares and paid out Rs 35 crore, while transferring the remaining shares to another company.
It was when he downloaded the original statement from the firm’s website and compared it with the old one that he realized something shocking. There were significant discrepancies between the two statements. The company had received multiple NSE notices. It responded to those notices in Shah’s name, without his knowledge.
Shah has filed an FIR, and the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) has launched an investigation into the matter, NDTV reported.
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