Surat: In a case underscoring the pitfalls of unregulated investment schemes, Utran police booked five persons for allegedly duping multiple investors of Rs 1.93 crore with promises of doubling their investments in 33 months and offering property as security before shutting shop and disappearing.Police named Manoj Hirpara, Rasmita Hirpara, Jaydeep Hirpara, Savan Savaliya and Rutvik Ribadiya, associated with Ocean Mtech Pvt Ltd, in the cheating case. Authorities invoked relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Gujarat Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act.Umesh Jain (39), a cattle farmer from Kamrej, filed a complaint stating that he had visited Hirpara’s office in March 2025 along with friends. Hirpara introduced his partners and claimed the firm invested across sectors, assuring high returns through its schemes.According to the complaint, Hirpara used a presentation to pitch investment options, stating that shorter-term plans of 12 to 18 months offered no security, but longer-term schemes of 18 to 33 months came with assured safeguards. He allegedly promised to double investments and offered flats in a residential project in Kamrej as security.Jain, along with Mayank Ghelani, Karshan Varu, Kaushik Mayani and Pratham Gathani, chose the longer-term scheme. The group collectively invested Rs 1.76 crore through cash, bank transfers and USDT. However, they received only Rs 10 lakh in returns, while the promised property security never materialised.In Oct 2025, Hirpara allegedly shut the office and went into hiding with his partners. Jain later learnt that others, including Darshan Jivani (Rs 21 lakh) and Pankaj Patel (Rs 6 lakh), had also been duped.With no recovery, Jain filed a cheating complaint for a total of Rs 1.93 crore. Utran police inspector H R Gauswami said, “We have formed teams to search for the accused. We could arrest one accused, Savan Savaliya, while the others are on the run.”
