A husband and wife, already facing fraud charges in Rajkot, have landed in fresh trouble. They allegedly reported their surrendered passports as missing, obtained new ones, and used them to travel abroad, all while out on bail. They have now been arrested again.
Ghanshyam Pambhar and his wife Ashmita are from Lodhika in Rajkot. In 2021, they launched a company called Dhananjay Finance, claimed a report. They allegedly promised investors high returns in a short period and collected Rs 6.28 crore from them. When investors returned to claim their money, the company had been shut down. The couple had stealthily relocated to Mota Varachha in Surat, the report added.
A cheating case was registered against them at Rajkot Taluka police station. They secured anticipatory bail from the Gujarat High Court, but with conditions. They were not to leave the country without permission and were required to surrender their passports to the local police station. They complied at least on paper.
Their cover was blown by one of their victims. Ashok Koyani, a lawyer from Rajkot who had lost money to the couple, discovered they had been travelling to Dubai and other countries. He informed the Gujarat High Court and also filed a complaint with Rajkot Taluka police station about the bail violation.
Rajkot police checked their records. The surrendered passports were still in their custody. An investigation was launched and it emerged that the couple had filed complaints at Dindoli police station in Surat, claiming their passports were missing. Using those FIRs, they had obtained fresh passports from the Surat passport office.
Surat Assistant Commissioner of Police NP Gohil said the Surat police had seized the new passports on which the couple had travelled abroad.
The charges against them tell the full story of what they allegedly did. Police booked them for furnishing false information, misleading a public servant, cheating, forgery, and using forged documents as genuine. Additional charges were added under the Passport Act and the Immigration and Foreigners Act.
Dindoli police went to their residence in Mota Varachha and arrested them on Thursday. A court heard their case and sent them to police custody for two days.
Dindoli police inspector PL Vaghela told a media outlet that the case had been registered for giving false information to police and obtaining an FIR on the false premise of lost passports. He added that investigators would look into who else may have been involved in the racket and how the couple managed to get fresh passports issued.
Also Read: No Lessons Learned: The Gujarati Fraud Trail Across American Courtroomshttps://www.vibesofindia.com/no-lessons-learned-the-gujarati-fraud-trail-across-american-courtrooms/
