Rajkot: Gandhigram police registered a case against a local credit society operator for allegedly cheating an employee of a private company of Rs 21 lakh with the promise of attractive returns on business investments.According to the FIR, the complainant, 35-year-old Gaurang Joshi, had known the accused, Nilesh Joshi, since 2008 through his savings account at Nilesh’s firm, Ekdant Sharafi Mandali, at Sadguru Tirthdham on Raiya Road.In 2021, Gaurang sold his house in Gandhigram for Rs 23.60 lakh. The following year, Nilesh allegedly lured him into investing the sale proceeds, promising a monthly return of 1.75%. Trusting him, Gaurang withdrew Rs 21 lakh in instalments from his bank account and handed over the cash to Nilesh in May 2022 at his office.Joshi alleged that while the accused paid the promised returns for the first two months, the payouts abruptly stopped thereafter. When Gaurang sought the return of his principal, Nilesh cited temporary financial distress. Soon after, Nilesh was arrested by Gandhigram police in connection with another case.After his release from prison, Nilesh tried to reassure the complainant by executing a notarised agreement on Sept 18, 2024, inducting Gaurang and his wife, Puja, as business partners. He also issued two security cheques for Rs 10.50 lakh each to the couple.Nilesh later refused to refund the invested sum and dared the complainant to take legal action.
