Mumbai based Heart surgeon duped of Rs 4.32 crore on pretext of investment, Ayurveda Doctor and family members booked

Mumbai: A Kandivali-based heart surgeon and his family has been cheated of Rs 4.32 crore following which an Ayurveda practitioner, three of his family members, and two others were booked for their alleged role in the cheating case. 

According to the complainant Dr Yogeshkumar Shukhla, the Ayurveda doctor asked Dr Shukla to invest in his company which was researching ayurvedic medicine. He asked the doctor to take the company's franchise and promised him 48% returns. 

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The police booked the Ayurveda practitioner Dr Sunil Singh, his brother Anil Singh, parents Mahendra and Shanti Singh, and two of their employees in the case. 

The surgeon said that he first became friends with Dr Vishal Gupta, who has a nursing home Sai Shraddha in Kanjurmarg in March 2020, following which Gupta introduced Shukla to Sunil Singh, an Ayurveda doctor who used to work with the production, sale, and purchase of ayurvedic medicine via three companies. Shukla and Singh became good friends over one year. 

A police officer told Hindustan Times, "To gain trust, Singh once borrowed ₹15 lakh from Shukla and returned the entire amount to him within 15-days, as promised." After that, Singh and his family began insisting Shukla invest in their company's projects and promised a return of 48% annually. Shukla was hesitant as he had recently bought a flat but Singh and his family continued to insist on him. They promised him a share in the company's profit and promised to make him a director with a monthly salary of ₹4.1lakh.

Shukla then decided to invest after he learned that his friend Gupta had also invested ₹1 crore with Singh's family. Shukla, his family members, friends, and relatives invested around Rs 4.70 crore between March-July 2021. Rs 38 lakhs were returned by Shukla to the complainant in December 2021 as interest on their investment. 

 At that time, Gupta learned that Gupta had a financial dispute with Singh and Singh allegedly got Gupta arrested in a bogus rape case. An officer said, "After this, Shukla got suspicious and asked Singh to return the money. Singh then started to ignore him and allegedly threatened to implicate him in a fake criminal case just like Gupta."

Dr Gupta filed a complaint with the Samata Nagar police station on Sunday following which the police booked Dr Singh, his family members, and two employees under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act for cheating and criminal breach of trust and investment fraud. An officer said, "We suspect that there could be more victims."

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