Man cheats car rental firm, held while fleeing country

The accused had collected nearly Rs 60 lakh by mortgaging the cars, rented from Drive Easy, and had planned to shift to Dubai

The Vashi police have arrested a 35-year-old man for renting 25 cars from a car rental firm but mortgaging them after changing their registration plates from commercial to private. The police nabbed the accused as he was about to leave the country last week. Barring two, all cars have been traced.

The accused, identified as Sandeep Raghu Shetty, is a resident of Kharghar. He had collected nearly 60 lakh by mortgaging the cars, rented from Drive Easy, and had planned to shift to Dubai.

The police said Drive Easy’s business had almost shut during the lockdown and many employees were asked to leave. The company had 25 cars lying idle. Shetty, who knew one Om Upadhyaya, a senior worker at Drive Easy, took all the cars by promising to pay a fixed monthly rent. He then started a new car rental company called Royal Car Self Drive. Initially, he paid rent for two months to Drive Easy but then began defaulting.

After the firm failed to reach Shetty, its manager Imran Baig registered a complaint at Vashi police station on September 18.

With technical help and tip-off from informers, Vashi police arrested Shetty from his home last week when he was leaving for the airport. During interrogation, it was revealed that he had changed the registration number plate of cars from commercial to private and mortgaged them for anywhere between Rs 2 lakh and 3 lakh in different cities.

Senior police inspector Ramesh Chavan said, “It was very difficult to trace all the cars, but we have already traced 23 and taken possession of them.” He added that Shetty used the money for a lavish lifestyle. A similar case was also registered at Khandeshwar police station against Shetty.