Five men arrested for conning Malad woman of Rs 5 lakh

Five men have been arrested for conning a businessman’s wife of Rs 5 lakh in Malad (E) on the pretext of helping her exchange higher denomination currency notes for small change. In the process, the woman, Ayesha Khan, cleared out her savings bank account of Rs 2 lakh and borrowed Rs 3 lakh from her friend to raise of Rs 5 lakh.

The conman, Yunus Khan, had promised Ayesha a 10% commission if she gave him Rs 5 lakh currency notes in higher denominations. Tempted by the lucrative offer, Ayesha told her husband Iqbal about this. The couple lives in Pathanwadi, Malad (east).

The police said the conman and Iqbal are known to each other. “On May 26, Ayesha went to a restaurant in Malad with a bag containing Rs 5 lakh cash in higher denomination notes and Yunus asked her to go inside.

Soon, a man named Arvind entered the restaurant, and after a discussion, Ayesha gave him the bag of cash. Arvind told her that he would keep the cash in his car parked outside the restaurant and return with the change and her 10% commission as promised by Yunus. She kept waiting inside the restaurant but Arvind never returned,” police said.

After a few minutes, Ayesha realised that she had been conned. She told her husband and the couple reached Dindoshi police station and registered a case against Yunus and Arvind.

In her FIR, Ayesha said she met Yunus and his four associates, Vijay Somnathe, Farooq Shaikh, Umar Khan and Raj Shaikh on May 25, just a day before she was conned.

“The police have arrested five men but Arvind is still at large. The cash is yet to be recovered,” said an officer.