COURTESY MIRROR JAN 17Man arrested for actress’s rape booked in Rs 19-cr cheating case
In fresh FIR, Sarfaraz Mohammad is accused of cheating an NRI businessman
Asif.Rizvi@timesgroup.com
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A fresh case of cheating an NRI businessman of over Rs 19 crore was registered against an alleged conman, who was earlier arrested for allegedly raping and cheating a yesteryear Bollywood actress, on Tuesday.

The latest case against Sarfaraz Mohammad, alias Anup Khanna, 38, was filed at Bandra police station, and the Mumbai Crime Branch, which had arrested Mohammad last year, began its investigation in the case on Wednesday. Mohammad is currently in judicial custody.

According to the new complaint police received, the accused had identified himself as Raj, a real estate agent, to the complainant, Amarjeet Singh Ubhi, 69. After gaining his confidence, Mohammad began advising him about real estate investments, claiming they would earn him big profits. Between 2008 and 2017, the complainant acknowledged that he had invested in several properties all over the country based on Mohammad’s advice.

“Two years ago, the complainant found out the real identity of the accused, who said ‘Raj’ was short for his real name, Sarfaraz. Since Ubhi was due to retire in 2018, he asked the agent to give him details of the investments he had made on his behalf over the years. The accused asked Ubhi to meet him in a bar to discuss the details, and when the latter was drunk, allegedly recorded him saying the investments had been made voluntarily,” an official from the Bandra police said.

The officer said that later, whenever Ubhi asked questions about his investments, Mohammad would play the recordings and say these would be his defence if Ubhi filed a complaint against him. “Ubhi approached the Crime Branch, which had arrested Mohammad, and submitted documentary proof of being cheated by him,” the official said.

A senior police officer said, “An FIR under sections 406,419,420,467 and 34 of IPC was registered against two people after the businessman alleged he had been cheated of over Rs 19.22 crore.”

When contacted, Ubhi did not wish to comment on the matter.

Sarfaraz, a real estate businessman was arrested by Unit 9 of the Crime Branch in March last year after a yesteryear actress alleged in her complaint to the police that he had cheated her to the tune of over Rs 15 crore between 2011 and 2015. She also claimed he had given her a nikahnama in 2016, stating they were married, and allegedly raped her