Pune: Narhe police arrested a farmer from Solapur district for allegedly duping a 65-year-old trustee of an educational trust of ₹87 lakh by promising a ₹50 crore low-interest loan between Dec 2023 and June.When the trustee, whose trust runs educational institutes in the Narhe and Sinhagad Road areas, demanded his money back after the loan failed to materialise, the suspects handed him bags claiming that they had cash.However, when he opened the bags, he found old bedsheets, newspapers and bricks. The trustee then lodged a complaint with the police on Friday.Varsha Deshmukh, senior inspector of Narhe police station, said, “We have arrested Anup Divekar (42) of Solapur. Earlier, he used to stay in Nigdi Pradhikaran. Divekar and his two accomplices had met the trustee through a common friend in 2023.”According to the FIR, the trustee was looking for a loan at lower interest rates because the trust had bought an educational campus in the city and it was running at a loss. The trustee needed funds to develop it and make it more attractive to students. While looking for a loan, he came in contact with the three suspects through a common friend.“The three suspects claimed that they had good contacts with financial institutions and could arrange a loan for the trustee at lower interest rates,” Deshmukh said.“The suspects allegedly demanded a 10% commission to arrange the Rs 50 crore loan. They gave the trustee fake documents and asked him to pay them in cash, through bank transfers from the accounts of employees of the educational campuses, and through online transfers. In all, the trustee paid them Rs 87 lakh towards their fees, loan processing charges and other expenses,” Deshmukh said.“After receiving the money, the suspects allegedly gave the trustee some cheques, which bounced one after the other. They first gave Rs 50 crore in cheques, which all bounced. Subsequently, they gave Rs 25 crore, Rs 5 crore and Rs 10 crore in cheques. They also bounced,” she said.“After the cheques were dishonoured, the trustee demanded his Rs 87 lakh back. The suspects then handed him bags filled with old bedsheets, bricks and old newspapers,” Deshmukh said.
