Mumbai: Police bust gang faking bank guarantees, arrest Borivli resident

Arrested accused has been identified as Mukesh Trivedi. Pic/No Credit

The MHB Colony police said they have busted a gang involved in defrauding people with counterfeit bank guarantee documents while also arresting its key member, adding that they are looking for other members of the gang who remain at large.

The arrested accused has been identified as Mukesh Trivedi, 44, a resident of Borivli East. Police have identified the other accused as Vikas Gajanand Sharma, Bablu Kumar Pathak, Gajanand Sharma, Rahul Kumar Chudasama, and Raghunathan Sundrarajan.

The gang has duped several worth over Rs 200 crore across the country, police said. The arrest follows a case registered with the MHB Colony police by a 65-year-old businessman working in healthcare and medicines, who was allegedly duped by the gang. According to the complaint, he was defrauded with a fake guarantee of Rs 20 crore.

According to police sources, the complainant, an agent of pharmaceutical production, came into contact with one Vikas Sharma, who introduced himself as an active member of a Surat-based company - Prizam Alliance Pvt Ltd - in September 2023, who then introduced him to others, including Trivedi as the CEO of the company.

During the meeting, Sharma explained that he was also in the same business and asked the victim to supply medicines to him and assured him of clearing the payment within 90 days. The victim stated that he would require a bank guarantee for this arrangement.

Sharma and his associates readily agreed and provided a guarantee of Rs 20 crore through the State Bank of India (Surat branch) in the name of a London-based ‘Point' bank limited and procured medicines worth approximately R5.5 crore from the victim.

In December 2023, three months after the supposed deal, when the victim requested payment, the accused said they already had provided a guarantee and told him not to worry about the payment.

However, several more months passed without payment, and the complainant grew suspicious. Upon verifying the bank guarantee documents, he discovered they were fake, said an officer at the MHB Colony police station.

After registering the complaint, an investigation was launched during which Trivedi was arrested from Borivli East following a raid. The cops also seized many forged documents linked to the other accused.

Police said further investigation revealed that Trivedi and his associates had duped many in a similar manner and that cases have been registered about such incidents across different departments in several other states.

Trivedi and Sharma are said to be the masterminds of the racket. "Trivedi is currently in police custody. Police are searching for other accused who remain at large," added the officer mentioned above.