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Mumbai Police Book Four in Alleged CMO Gold-Auction Fraud of ₹2.80 Crore

Police say the scheme used a bogus CMO identity to sell a false promise of discounted seized gold.

Overview

  • L T Marg police registered an FIR after a Zaveri Bazaar jeweller alleged cheating of roughly ₹2.80 crore.
  • The case names Vaibhav Thakkar, his wife Priyanka, his mother-in-law Surekha Arvind Jain, and Birju Salla, who earlier figured in the 2017 Jet Airways fake hijack-note case.
  • Police say Thakkar posed as a Class-I CMO officer, arrived in a beacon-fitted Innova, and took the complainant to the chief minister’s Varsha residence.
  • On a promise of 10 kg of seized Customs/DRI gold at a discount, the jeweller allegedly paid ₹20 lakh, transferred about ₹1.15 crore to Priyanka’s account, and handed over diamond jewellery worth about ₹1.44 crore.
  • Officers booked the accused under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 316 and 318 and noted a June 2024 counter-complaint that left the complainant jailed for 47 days, with the new probe continuing.