JEWELLER HELD FOR CHEATING

Hyderabad CCS police arrested the owner of Astha Lakshmi Gold Bullion on Thursday for cheating and manipulation of accounts after demonetisation was announced in November.

Police said that Neel Sunder Tharad, the owner of Astha Lakshmi Gold Bullion, conspired with Kailash Chand Gupta, the owner of Musaddilal Jewellers, to convert huge amounts of unaccounted money by creating fake gold purchase bills. Neel Sunder prepared fake bills for black money worth `28 crore belonging to his associates, charging a commission of 30 per cent. “He also negotiated a similar deal with Nithin Gupta and other directors of Musaddilal Jewellers for 10 per cent commission. They generated fake advance payment receipts for `57.85 crore in the name of Musaddilal Gems and Jewellers and `40 crore in the name of Vaishnavi Bullion,” DCP Avinash Mohanty said.

They generated receipts in the names of 5,200 fake customers within three hours after demonetisation was announced. He said that Neel Sunder and others deposited `40 crore in the bank accounts of Vaishnavi Bullion, which is a also a sister concern of Musaddilal Jewellers and from there diverted the money into two accounts of Astha Lakshmi Gold Bullion. Later, it was diverted to other accounts for purchasing gold.

All other accused were arrested earlier and remanded.