Pune: A lawyer cheated a businessman of Rs 15 lakh on the pretext of arranging to purchase gold seized by the court at a cheaper rate in an auction. The lawyer has been booked by the Daund Police in this regard.
The accused has been identified as Sunny Ajit Baldota, a resident of Daund.
A Daund-based photographer lodged a complaint at the Daund Police Station. He took a loan to buy the promised gold at a cheaper rate. He not only lost his money but has to pay the loan EMIs, along with interest.
According to the police, the complainant has a studio. He got to know the accused during the latter’s visit to his studio. They helped each other in their hour of crisis. The accused visited the complainant in June this year. Baldota told the photographer that seized gold would be auctioned at the Daund Court. He also told the businessman that he knew the judge concerned and could manage to purchase gold at a cheaper rate. He had got deals done for cheaper gold, cars and other valuables for other people also. Then he told the complainant to arrange Rs 15 lakh and promised to get a legitimate receipt of the payment.
The complainant trusted Baldota being a lawyer. He took a loan of Rs 2.5 lakh and handed over Rs 15 lakh to the accused. After some days, the complainant enquired about the gold purchase, on which the accused replied that the auction had not taken place but would happen later. Many days passed but there was no sign of gold purchase. Hence, the complainant grew suspicious and enquired in the court about the auction. He was told that no such auction takes place in the court.
Then the complainant met Baldota and demanded his money back, failing which he would lodge a complaint with the police. The accused then issued him a cheque of his mother’s bank account. The complainant came to know that there was not enough money in the account. Then he realised that he was cheated and approached the police.
