Delhi: Rs 9 crore fraud busted, man duped 14 devotees of spiritual leader

Delhi: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police has arrested a 44-year-old man for allegedly duping 14 followers of a spiritual leader of over Rs 9 crore by luring them into fake investment schemes with promises of high returns, officials said on Wednesday.

The accused, Mohit Wadhwa alias Manu, was arrested from Subhash Nagar on May 9, they said.

Wadhwa and his associates — all devotees of a spiritual figure referred to as Guruji — would regularly attend ‘satsangs’ (congregation) at Bade Mandir in Chhatarpur, where they gained the trust of fellow devotees, police said.

“Leveraging the trust built within the religious community, they allegedly lured victims to invest in various schemes based in Dubai. The accused promised extraordinarily high returns and collected around Rs 9 crore in multiple installments between September 2017 and September 2020,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (EOW) Amit Verma said.

The case was initiated based on a complaint by Gurpreet Kaur Rai. Subsequently, three more families came forward, taking the total number of people duped to 14, the officer said.

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He said the complainants alleged that despite repeated assurances, the accused neither returned the money nor provided any documentation regarding the supposed investments.

During the investigation, the statements of victims were recorded and bank transactions were scrutinised, which partially corroborated the monetary trail between the accused and the complainants, he added.

“The evidence gathered so far confirms the allegations against Mohit Wadhwa and efforts are on to trace his associates,” the DCP said.

Preliminary investigation suggests that Wadhwa used a portion of the funds to invest in cryptocurrency, while the rest was allegedly spent on funding a lavish lifestyle, he said.

A case has been registered under Indian Penal Code sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) at the EOW police station, DCP Verma said.

Police said the accused is a Class 12 pass-out and married. He had earlier organised satsangs at his residence, which drew large crowds of Guruji’s devotees.

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“He exploited their faith and trust for personal gain,” the officer said, adding that Wadhwa has also been previously arrested in a similar cheating case involving investors.