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ShareNext time, think twice before handing over money to a real estate agent. The police on Monday arrested a person who cheated several people, posing as a real estate agent. The accused was identified as Prakash Shetty, 26, a resident of Saki Naka, Andheri (East).
Shetty ran out of luck after cheating a doctor from KEM Hospital of Rs13 lakh in the last week of October. Dr Venkatesh Shivne lodged a complaint at Colaba police station. The cops said that Shivne, who resides in the doctors' quarters of KEM Hospital, told in his statement that he came across the accused while looking for a house to buy.
"Their dealings went on for a month. Shetty, having gained the doctor's confidence by then, coaxed him to part with Rs13 lakh and fled with the money," Pandharinath Patil, assistant inspector of Colaba police station, said.
Shetty allegedly showed several flats to Shivne in different areas of Mumbai. Shivne picked one at Wadala. Shetty asked Shivne to deposit an initial amount of Rs13 lakh at the office of a Colaba-based investor.
"Shetty had been to the investor's office quite a few times in the past, posing as a real estate agent," Patil said. "He took Shivne there to make the deposit. He asked the doctor to sit at the visitors' corner, and took the money from him, saying he would deposit it at the cash counter and bring him the receipt."
Shivne kept waiting for Shetty, but he never returned. "He left the office through some other exit. After waiting for him for hours, and checking with the employees inside, Shivne realised thathe had been cheated. He lodged a police complaint.
Shetty was arrested from Bhavnagar, Gujarat, from his in-law's house. The police recovered Rs9.5 lakh in cash and gold jewellery worth Rs2 lakh from him. He was booked for cheating and was remanded incustody till November 7.
