The Marine Drive police have registered an FIR against five directors of RMB Event Management Pvt Ltd for allegedly cheating a finance company. The accused allegedly defrauded Bakliwal Finance Services (India) Ltd of Rs3.50 crore in a business deal. Kamal Bakliwal, 60, the owner of Bakliwal Finance Services, filed a complaint, leading the police to register a case of cheating on December 11.
The accused have been identified as Laxminarayan Bhattad, Bhagwandas Bhattad, Harikishan Bhattad, Harish Bhattad and Brijesh Bhattad. Laxminarayan, Bhagwandas, Harikishan and Harish are brothers, while Brijesh is the son of one of them.
According to the FIR, Bakliwal, a resident of Nepean Sea Road, operates a finance and share-broking business. In 2016, Bakliwal was introduced to Harikishan by an acquaintance, Praga Shah.
In 2020, Brijesh told Bakliwal that their company had secured a government contract to set up a Covid-19 centre and requested a loan from Bakliwal’s company.
In August 2020, the two companies signed a loan agreement. As per the contract, Bakliwal transferred Rs2.72 crore to the event management company. Harish provided Bakliwal with five post-dated cheques as security.
However, after October 2020, Harish instructed Bakliwal not to deposit the cheques. The event management company eventually repaid Rs1.21 crore but failed to return the remaining amount.
The complaint further states that Harish and Brijesh claimed that the remaining amount had been given to Bakliwal’s brother, Prakash Bakliwal. However, Kamal Bakliwal asserts that he was unaware of any such transaction.
Ultimately, Kamal Bakliwal filed a complaint against the five directors, alleging that they cheated him out of Rs 3.50 crore, including interest.
Harish Bhattad stated, “We returned all the money to Kamal Bakliwal, but in good faith, he took the money in his brother’s name. Now, he is saying that his brother’s case is different and his is different, claiming the money didn’t come into his account, and he filed the case. I have provided my complete statement to the police.”
