Thane: Fraudsters allegedly duped 11 residents of Maharashtra’s Thane district by promising low-cost housing under a government scheme and forged their credentials to open bank accounts for larger financial transactions, police said on Monday.
A 54-year-old woman from Ulhasnagar in saidwho is the complainant in the case, alleged that the accused gained her trust by promising to provide a house under the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) scheme at a concessional rate.
The accused lured the complainant and others by offering cheap flats to MHADA and collected money from them for the last two years. They also misused their personal details to buy SIM cards, create email IDs and open bank accounts, said an official from Hill Line police station.
The accused allegedly took Rs 5,000 each from 11 victims, collecting a total of Rs 55,000. They used the victims’ credentials to conduct larger financial transactions through bank accounts opened in their names, he said.
“They allegedly transferred funds to various bank accounts of companies and builders using forged signatures and documents, defrauding the victims and violating their trust,” the official said.
Following the woman’s complaint on Saturday, the police have registered a case against three persons under relevant provisions of cheating and forgery, he said.
Police suspect more individuals may have been duped and urged people to verify claims about government housing schemes before making payments.
