LOC issued against Gajera brothers in 1,928cr fraud case

Surat: A day after an FIR was filed, Surat police on Monday issued a look-out circular (LOC) against the four Gajera brothers — Vasant, Chuni, Ashok and Bakul Gajera and their nephew, Rakesh Gajera — in the alleged Rs 1,928 crore fraud case. LOCs were also issued against co-accused Hitesh Pardeshi and Gautam Prajapati.Sources in the Economic Offences Cell said the LOCs were issued as police fear the accused may try to leave the country. "We tried to call all the accused, but their phones were switched off. We searched for them in various places, but they were not found. We thus got an LOC issued so that they cannot flee abroad," a senior police officer said. Investigators have begun technical and financial analysis, examining bank accounts and call detail records to track the money trail and identify those who assisted the accused. "A special team has been deployed to get the details from the sub-registrar on how many shops were actually sold and for what amount," an investigator said. The FIR, filed by Pravin Agrawal, pertains to alleged fraud involving 598 shops in the Millennium 2 and Millennium 4 textile markets. Agrawal alleged that although his family held a 43% stake in the partnership firm, Shanti Residency Pvt Ltd, they were cheated out of their share of profits. The accused allegedly sold 598 shops valued at Rs 2,085.98 crore but took only Rs 157.58 crore through cheques. The remaining Rs 1,928.39 crore was allegedly collected in cash and not reflected in the firm's accounts. The complaint states that the accused used these funds to buy land, launch the Millennium 3 project and earn additional profits. According to the FIR, Prajapati, a representative of nCode Solutions, helped the accused obtain a fake digital signature with assistance from Pardeshi. The complaint also alleges that the Gajera brothers sent money to Hong Kong through hawala channels and routed it back to the firm to reduce the Agrawals' share. Fake signatures were allegedly used to show the consent of Agrawal's family members, diluting their stake from 43% to 4.2%. Surat police registered the FIR on Sunday after Agrawal approached the Gujarat high court, following failed attempts to get his complaints registered in 2022 and 2023.