Pune: The Wanawadi Police have registered a case against seven individuals for allegedly orchestrating a ₹2.5 crore fraud by setting up a fake company in the solid waste management sector. The accused lured investors by promising lucrative rental returns on vehicles and heavy machinery, only to resell them without informing the owners. Initial investigations indicate that at least 110 individuals have been defrauded, with the number of victims likely to rise.
Three individuals, Sanket Sudhir Thorat (30), Sonu Navnath Hinge (29), and Rizwan Farukh Memon (44), have been arrested, while cases have been filed against Pranay Uday Khare (32), Vrushali Santosh Raysoni (24), and Vijay Chandrakant Asher (65). The case was registered following a complaint from Dnyanesh Khandu Shinde (24), a resident of Avasari Budruk, Pune district.
The accused set up an office in Jagtap Chowk, Wanawadi, posing as representatives of BioFix Pro, a company purportedly engaged in solid waste management. Sonu Hinge convinced the complainant and other investors that the company required JCB machines for rental purposes, offering a monthly rent of ₹1.3 lakh for seven years, with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to be covered by the company.
Based on these assurances, Shinde purchased a JCB machine worth ₹39 lakh on December 14, 2024, and handed it over to the company the next day. However, in January, he received only ₹60,000 as rental payment, with no further payments forthcoming. When he inquired about his machine, he received evasive responses, prompting him to approach the police.
The police investigation revealed that the JCB machine was stored in a warehouse in Undri, on Katraj-Kondhwa Road. Upon questioning, Rizwan Memon admitted that the machine had been sold through a third-party mediator, Darpan Thakkar.
Further inquiries revealed that the accused had duped multiple investors into purchasing various vehicles and machinery, including cars, tempos, JCBs, and organic waste composter machines, under the pretext of leasing them to companies. The investors, who believed they would earn stable rental income, later discovered that their vehicles had been illegally resold.