Thane court sentences jeweller to 7 years RI for cheating investors in gold scheme

Thane, Sep 9 (PTI) A court in Maharashtra's Thane district sentenced a jeweller to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for cheating people of more than Rs 2.5 crore in a gold investment scheme.

Judge G T Pawar acquitted two others in the case registered under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act, 1999 (MPID) and the Indian Penal Code.

The court designated to hear cases under the MPID Act passed the order on August 22.

The court found Santosh Sadanand Shelar, proprietor of Trimurti Ratna Jewellers, Thane city, guilty of cheating investors out of more than Rs 2.5 crore.

Shelar has been sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment, and a collective fine of Rs 6 lakh has been imposed.

The case began with a complaint lodged by an investor in June 2019, after he and several others were promised significant returns on monthly deposits in a gold investment scheme that ultimately failed to pay out.

As many as 27 witnesses, including investors, testified in the trial.

The court held that Shelar, as the owner, was directly responsible for the fraudulent default on deposits.

It further noted that the money invested was considered a "deposit" under the MPID Act, and that the owner's failure to return it amounted to "dishonest misappropriation".

"The accused did not return the invested amount to the investors on maturity and used it for himself. It amounts to dishonest misappropriation by the accused for his own use," the court said.

For the two employees booked in the case, the court found that while they were involved in daily operations and explaining the schemes to investors, the prosecution failed to prove they were part of the management.

In his final order, Judge Pawar convicted Shelar under section 3 of the MPID Act, sentencing him to six years of rigorous imprisonment and imposing a fine of Rs 1 lakh and under section 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code, and sentenced him to seven years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh.

The court ordered that both sentences would run concurrently. PTI COR ARU