Vasai resident showed rented flats, took 30% of money in cash and fled only to be arrested.
At 21, when most people are planning their next academic or career move, Vasai resident Payel Kamble has already swindled people to the tune of Rs55 crore. Making the most of her looks and the gift of the gab, she lured buyers across Vashi, Vasai and Mira Road with the false promise of selling flats at 30 per cent discount.
Payel, 21, who had been absconding since January after the victims registered a complaint against her and her four associates, was arrested by the Vasai crime branch two weeks ago. The Vashi police took her into custody on Tuesday.
The police said Payel opened two offices in Vashi and Vasai and approached buyers through various websites. She fooled them by taking 30-40 per cent of the flat money in cash and promising possession in six months. “The buyers were shown rented flats and asked to pay at least 30 per cent of the amount in cash. Despite promising them the flat keys in six months, the gang shut their business in the last week of December 2012 and fled,” Rajesh Dewre, police inspector (crime) at the Vashi police station, told dna.
Following complaints, the police arrested Payel’s associates — Vashi residents Yogesh Karande, 32, Suraj Chorge, 35, and Klipton Mathai, 22. The fourth member, Mira Road resident Shukumar Yadav, 22, is absconding. Payel, too, was on the run, but was arrested two weeks ago.
Dewre said none of those who succumbed to her “attractive offers” got their money back or the flats they had booked. “We have received 33 complaints already and the number may go up. Payel and her gang collected about Rs45 crore from their Vashi office alone in the last five months of 2012,” he said.
Ghatkopar resident Rohini Bhoir admonishes himself for trusting Payel. “Her associates and she showed me a flat costing Rs10 lakh after discount in Kalyan in November 2012. Even after three weeks of paying Rs3 lakh in advance, I did not get a receipt. When I visited their Vashi office in December, it was locked; their mobiles were switched off. It was then that I realised that I fell prey to a gang of cheaters,” he said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}