AHMEDABAD: An NRI woman from the US was duped of Rs 20 lakh by a Shilaj family which used the bait of fisheries business profits, forcing her to write to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) for help.
The complaint was filed on Sunday. The woman is a 25-year-old resident of Connecticut in the US. She and her friend from Lucknow were trapped in the scam net of the Shilaj family, which proposed an investment in a business involving Thai Mangur. That fish is banned in India.
The case came to light after the woman, Meghna Patel, wrote on the PMO portal seeking help to begin legal action against the accused persons.
According to the FIR filed by her friend from Lucknow, Sharad Singh, 51, he and Meghna were discussing the fisheries business and she told him to talk with Paresh Patel of Shilaj. Singh was told that Paresh was an expert in the field.
Singh talked with Paresh in October last year. Paresh's wife Sonal, their son Paritosh, and their son-in-law Rahul Jain had joined the discussions.
On Paresh' invitation, Singh came to Ahmedabad and explored the possibility of investing in farming of Thai Mangur. Paresh introduced Singh to three persons from Dahegam who were apparently in the business.
Paresh told Singh that if Singh and Meghna invested Rs 40 lakh, they would get Rs 80 lakh in profit each quarter.
In December 2020, Meghna came to Ahmedabad and liked the business model. Meghna invested Rs 20 lakh and Singh put in Rs 14 lakh.
In the same month, Paresh and the other accused took Meghna and Singh to a government office in Dahegam. But Paresh made Meghna stay in the car, telling her that she was an NRI and would not be able to bear the heat of Gujarat.
Singh was taken inside the office where he was made to sign a tri-party agreement with Paresh on behalf of Meghna.
After the event, there seemed to be no progress in the business. When Meghna sought the documents of the deal, Paresh began to stonewall her. Eventually, he gave her papers which showed that she had a rent agreement with Paresh and his family members.
Paresh tried to explain the situation away by telling her that they had some issues with the Dahegam partners who would start farming very soon.
Later, the Patels stopped taking Meghna and Singh's calls. She filed an application on the PMO portal on June 20.
After inquiring into the case, Rakhial police filed a complaint of cheating, breach of trust, and forgery against Patel and his family members.
