A man from Ahmedabad has been defrauded of over Rs 1 crore in an investment scam involving the misuse of the well-known Mumbai-based financial services firm Motilal Oswal’s name.
According to the complaint filed with the Bopal police, the victim, Mehul Rawal, a resident of Marutinandan Kutir in Bopal, was added to a WhatsApp group on August 20.
The group was under the Motilal Oswal name and the administrator used to offer substantial returns as well as market ‘tips’ for personal investments.
Rawal initially trusted its legitimacy. His first investment of Rs 10,000 provided him with a return of Rs 2,500 and encouraged him to invest further. Rawal’s subsequent investments returned a profit of Rs 2.5 lakh.
Pursuing larger returns, Rawal was persuaded to invest Rs 43.64 lakh. The conmen informed him he was allocated numerous Initial Public Offers, supposedly earning him Rs 3.25 crore in profits. However, they then demanded a 20% service charge and extracted an additional Rs 55.65 lakh from him.
Despite these payments, the promised funds were never credited to his account. Instead, the fraudsters demanded yet another Rs 41 lakh.
After losing a total of Rs 1.43 crore without any returns, Rawal grew suspicious and contacted Motilal Oswal’s office in Mumbai.
Knowing that he had been duped, he informed the police about the incident. The investigation is underway.
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