Mumbai: EOW arrests 2 for ‘cheating’ textile bizman, others of Rs 6 crore

MUMBAI: City police’s economic offences wing (EOW) arrested two businessmen for allegedly cheating a Malabar Hill textile businessman and others of Rs 6 crore. The accused bought yarn from 21 textile firms but allegedly failed to make full payment.
Mahendra Shah, a Malabar Hill resident, had lodged the complaint with the EOW about a group of people. Shah owns four textile firms and had sold yarn to the accused.While probing the case, police arrested Samarth Ranawat (42), an Andheri resident and director of Vimalnath Enterprises, and Akhtar Shaikh (52), a Jogeshwari resident and partner in Global Impex firm. They were sent to police custody.
“Ranawat came in touch with several businessmen who deal in fabric, yarn and raw cloth. He along with Shaikh finalized a deal with 21textile firms and purchased yarn from them for Rs 10 crore. Initially, they made a payment of Rs 4 crore but later did not pay to the sellers between March 2017 and 2019. When the businessmen could not get their money back, they approached the police,” said a police official.
The accused were booked under IPC sections for criminal breach of trust and cheating.
During interrogation, the accused told the police some raw material they had purchased was defective and they could not sell it. Police are now probing if there is truth to their claim and have searched various locations.