AHMEDABAD: The lure of high returns on investments proved too costly for an unsuspecting realtor, who ended up losing Rs 2.29 crore in an alleged fraud. On Wednesday, Pankaj Patel, 36, who lives in Raman Nagar in Maninagar, filed a complaint against three members of a family who have a firm in Shela, for duping him.
The accused — Siddharth Raval, his wife Payal Raval, and his brother Vijay Raval — allegedly lured Patel into investing in their company, Silicon Fin Services Pvt Ltd, promising lucrative monthly returns.
According to the complaint filed with the Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) police, Patel was introduced to the Ravals in early 2022 through a manager of a private bank. During initial meetings at their firm’s office in Westgate Building on SG Road, Patel was allegedly guaranteed a 4% monthly return on investments.
Patel initially invested Rs 1 crore in cash and received the promised returns timely for the first few months. In Dec 2022, the accused allegedly persuaded Patel to invest a much larger sum — Rs 2.5 crore — in a real estate project in Shela, saying his investment would grow to Rs 3 crore in three months.
After giving the money, Patel said he found himself chasing the family for repayment. The Ravals moved their office to Shela, further complicating communication. Eventually, Patel received partial repayments amounting to Rs 71 lakh in cash and bank transfers. To cover the remaining amount, Siddharth issued two cheques totaling Rs 72 lakh, which bounced due to a stop payment order he issued.
In Jan 2024, Patel and the Ravals signed a notarised settlement agreement, in which the trio promised to pay Rs 1.57 crore through four ICICI Bank cheques dated for April 2024. These too bounced.
Patel’s inquiries revealed that the three had cheated other investors, including Neer Dhinora and Yogni Joshi, both residents of Manekbaug Society, who lost Rs 50 lakh.
DCB police have lodged a complaint of breach of trust, cheating, and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
