Two traders booked for duping jeweller of gold worth ₹1.1 crore

ACCUSED TOOK GOLD, DIAMOND JEWELLERY WORTH ₹1.1 CRORE AND GAVE THE COMPLAINANT GOLD BARS WHICH WERE FAKE

MUMBAI: Two diamond traders were booked on Thursday by the DB Marg police for allegedly duping a trader of gold jewellery worth ₹1.1 crore by keeping fake gold as a mortgage.

According to the police, the two accused used to take gold from the complainant, Anand Limbachya, and say they would pay for it later, while keeping some gold bars with him as a security deposit. Limbachya eventually got suspicious about the gold bars and found that they were fake.

The case has been registered against Ankur Jain, 37, and Bharat Mourya, 48, both residents of Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. They having an office in the Opera House area in South Mumbai.

Limbachya, 40, a resident of Malad East, purchases gold and diamond jewellery and sells it to various retailers. He has an office in Malad East for trading in diamond jewellery.

The complainant used to work earlier at the Opera house, where he had met Jain, who used to come to purchase jewellery at his employer’s store.

“The complainant has known Jain since 2014, and when he started his own business in 2020, he got a call from Jain in January 2024. Jain, during the first transaction, paid the complainant.

However, later, he used to give him gold bars and told him when he would pay him, he would take back the gold bars and asked him not to sell them.

By this means, he took gold and diamond jewellery worth ₹1.1 crore and gave the complainant around 1,300 grams of gold bars in February and March,” said the police officer.

When the complainant wanted to use the gold to make gold jewellery, he called Jain and asked, who told him not to use the gold bars and that he would pay him ₹2 lakh every day after the elections.

“However, as the complainant got suspicious, he checked the bars only to find they were fake gold bars. After which he approached us and we have registered a case under sections 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the two, as Mourya had visited the complainant several times with Jain,” said the police officer.