Nagpur: Notorious fraudster Mandar Kolte, wanted by Nagpur Police, was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW ) from Kolhapur on Sunday. He was on the radar of police after registration of an offence for duping a Nagpur-based coal businessman of Rs 5.39 crore by promising lucrative returns on foreign investments.
According to police, Kolte was arrested at Kolhapur by the special team in the afternoon hours on Sunday. The police team will likely arrive in Nagpur on Monday and produce him in the court. Last week, the police had arrested Aman Pandey from Mumbai. On the complaint of Ankurkumar Agrawal, the EOW had registered a case at Dhantoli Police Station against 18 fraudsters, including Kolte.
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Agrawal, a resident of Dighori, operates a coal business. He fell prey to the scam after being introduced to Mandar Kolte. Kolte convinced Agrawal that prominent Mumbai traders are pocketing huge profits by investing in foreign companies. He even orchestrated bogus phone conversations with employees of Extreme Network India Pvt Ltd to win the confidence of the victim. Kolte had arranged meetings with other accused persons at five star hotels in Mumbai, where they used fake identities.
Agrawal trusted Kolte and transferred a total of Rs 5.39 crore to various accounts provided by the fraudsters. The accused had issued a fake Demand Draft to Agrawal during the process. As time passed without any returns on his investment, Agrawal grew suspicious. He discovered that the Demand Draft was counterfeit and the accused had successfully cashed a cheque issued as security.
Agrawal lodged a complaint with the EOW. DCP EOW and Cyber Archit Chandak instructed his team to investigate the matter. The police registered a case under Sections 419, 420, 406, 120(B) and 34 of Indian Penal Code against 18 accused persons.
