BHUBANESWAR: Police on Wednesday arrested a fraudster on charges of duping at least 16 investors of over Rs 12 crore on the promise of providing higher returns if they invested their money in gold trading.
The accused was identified as Ramesh Chandra Majhi, a resident of Acharya Vihar. A Mercedes Benz car was seized from him. The special crime unit (SCU) registered a case against Majhi and his wife Anisha Subudhi on Tuesday after receiving a complaint from one Bholanath Mohanty, a businessman, that the couple had cheated him of `5.60 crore in this connection.
Police are investigating the exact role of Subudhi in the scam and further action will be taken accordingly. As per police, one Bapun Behera had introduced Mohanty to Majhi and his wife in 2022.
Majhi had reportedly shown a fake RBI authorisation letter to Mohanty claiming that he was a genuine gold trader. The complainant then gave him the money in different phases in a span of two years - 2022 and 2023.
Police investigation revealed Subudhi had also signed on the agreement papers executed between her husband and Mohanty. However, the couple reportedly never returned his money and later fled their rented accommodation in Nayapalli.
During further probe, police found out that Majhi had duped 15 other investors of `7 crore by using the similar modus operandi.