HYDERABAD: A self-proclaimed personal assistant to a prominent businessman allegedly cheated a gold jeweller of over Rs 1 crore in Banjara Hills.
On February 26, Banjara Hills police received a complaint from the proprietor of Swarna Kavyam Jewellers against the accused for allegedly taking gold and returning gold-coated brass. She stated that she received a WhatsApp call from an unidentified person who identified himself as Ankit and claimed to be an assistant to a businessman. She later discovered that his real name was Srinath Rathi.
He expressed interest in entering into a jewellery business deal with her. “Later, he introduced me over the phone to a person claiming to be his employer for business purposes,” she said in her complaint.
On the same day, Srinath met her and informed her that his boss had a large quantity of gold and cash and wanted to convert it into white money through business transactions. “Believing his representations, I agreed to the proposal,” she added.
On February 18, Srinath sent photographs of jewellery along with price tags. The next day, Ankit called and placed an order for a 166-gram gold necklace, which she delivered.
Subsequently, persons sent by Ankit handed over two signed blank cheques. There were several transactions between them. At times, he reportedly made payments and also supplied gold.
On February 25, Ankit sent a gold biscuit weighing about 1,800 grams through a person named Krishna. She sent the biscuit to a testing centre, where it was found to be brass and not genuine gold.