PUNE: At least 11 investors were cheated of Rs4.5 crore from December 2021 till date by a Warje-based share trading company — the third economic fraud of its kind in the city over the last fortnight.The Pune police have arrested the companys proprietor and share broker, Niranjan Shah (42). But they are yet to arrest the men behind the previous two frauds.In all the three cases, the modus of defrauding investors was the same — promising unrealistically high returns on investment and then shutting offices overnight or claiming huge loss in share trading business, as is the case in the latest fraud, leaving investors in the lurch.On November 1, the Pune polices economic offences wing (EOW) had registered a case against an investment company having offices in Kharadi and Mumbai for cheating 90 investors of Rs3.39 crore between September 2021 and October this year. Two of the five men associated with this company were already facing a case registered with the Cantonment police.The EOW on November 8 registered another case against a Bibvewadi-based share trading company, accused of having cheated seven investors of total Rs5.12 crore between February and October this year. The company promised 10-14% monthly returns on investment while collecting money from investors. It paid the promised returns for the first two months and then stopped payments.In the instant case, EOWs assistant inspector Sandeep Khandagle on Friday said, We arrested Shah following a complaint lodged by a 41-year-old furniture businessman from Indapur in rural Pune on Thursday. He invested Rs3.1 lakh. Till now, the furniture businessman, his relatives and his friends, who invested varied amounts with Shah, have approached us with complaints. We suspect the number of investors duped is more.Khandagle said, The complainant had learnt about Shah doing well in share business and was offering handsome returns to investors for the past seven to eight years. He and others invested in two firms of Shah but failed to get the promised returns after a few months.The investors met Shah on multiple occasions. He sought time to repay the interest but never kept his word. The investors then filed a complaint application with the EOW. A case related to cheating and criminal breach of trust under sections 420, 406 and 409 of the Indian Penal Code, and under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act was registered with the Warje Malwadi police.The officer said Shah had claimed that he was in possession of a Shop Act licence for running the share business. He told the police that he had suffered huge losses in the share market and so he could not pay returns to the investors.Deputy commissioner of police (EOW) Srinivas Ghadge said, The risk of making investment is high if the credentials of the share broker is not verified. Victims without knowledge of share business fall prey to assurance that they will received good returns, which is more than what banks pay to customers. Victims wait for considerable time to receive money. When all efforts to get back their money proves futile, they approach the police for help.

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