NEW DELHI: A 59-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly defrauding a person of Rs 30 lakh on the pretext of selling fake ‘excavated’ gold, police said. The accused was identified as Mohan Rai, a resident of Uttam Nagar.
In November last year, Ramesh Sharma, who owns a hardware shop near complainant Gaurav Soni, approached the latter with two gold-coloured pearls wrapped in paper. When asked where they came from, Sharma said they were given to him by a woman and two men who were regular customers at his shop who wanted to verify if they were original gold and wanted to sell some of it. After testing, they were found to be 78% pure, a senior officer shared.
Few days later, Sharma informed Soni that the same individuals had returned to his shop and were looking to sell a significant quantity of gold. When asked about its origin, the sellers claimed that the gold was found during an excavation at their home in Mathura. The complainant and Sharma both agreed to buy the gold and share the benefit equally, police said.
As per the complaint, on November 26, the duo met the said individuals who handed over a golden neckpiece weighing around 2 kg. The deal was finalised at Rs 80 lakh. Soni managed to borrow Rs 30 lakh and gave it to the alleged people and the remaining amount was to be given after testing the purity of the gold piece.
The same day, it was revealed that the neckpiece was a complete fake, without even an ounce of gold. Thereafter, when the duped duo tried to contact the sellers, their mobile phones were switched off. Subsequently, a case was registered on a complaint by Soni, police said.
On March 3, Rai was arrested. The accused confessed that he, along with his accomplices Babu Lal and one Lakshmi, defrauded the duo by selling them the fake gold ornament.