The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police has booked four persons, including a former director and an ex-employee of Provogue India Ltd, for cheating the company of Rs 90 crore, officials have said, reported news agency PTI.

Provogue India Ltd, based in Mumbai, manufactures and sells a wide range of products, including men`s and women`s apparel, accessories and luggage.

The accused persons were identified as former director of the company Rakesh Rawat, its former employee Sameer Khandelwal, resolution professional Amit Gupta, new purchaser Arpit Khandelwal, Plutus Investments and Holding Ltd and others, an official said on Wednesday, reported PTI.

The accused conspired and allegedly undervalued the company`s assets and deliberately delayed the auction process by two years to bring down its market value so that Khandelwal could purchase the company, an official said, reported PTI.

The accused did not collect the receivable amounts from clients (debtors) for personal gain, he said.

A complaint in this connection was lodged by 55-year-old Nikhil Chaturvedi, a former managing director of Provogue India Ltd, he said, reported PTI.

The offence was committed between 2018 and 2023.

The accused have been booked on the charges of cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy, he said, adding that a probe was underway.

Elderly man loses Rs 26 lakh in cyber fraud

In another case, an 81-year-old city-based man was duped of nearly Rs 26 lakh by a cyber fraudster, who posed as a bank representative, a police official said here on Wednesday, reported PTI.

The complainant, a resident of Mumbai Central and a retired junior engineer from the Northern Railway, received a phone call on 12 November from a person claiming to be a representative of his bank. Shortly thereafter, he made a video call and falsely informed the victim that his life certificate has been cancelled, reported PTI.

On the pretext of verifying the details, the fraudster tried to obtain the senior citizen`s debit card number and PIN. However, the complainant refused to share the details and switched off his phone after suspecting foul play.

When he switched the phone back after an hour, he found that he has received several messages from the bank. It was then found that the fraudster carried out eight online transactions and transferred close to Rs 26 lakh from the victim`s account into various other bank accounts, the police said, reported PTI.

The senior citizen immediately contacted the cyber police helpline and lodged a complaint, they said.

(With inputs from PTI)

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