Pune: Director of PNG Jewellers duped of Rs 1.6 crore, say cops

A statement released by Amit Jitendra Vaidya, head of franchising at PNG Jewellers, said, “As part of the expansion plans for PNG Jewellers and to establish a strong retail store network in North India, PNG Jewellers was actively looking for franchisees to support their endeavor to establish the brand specifically in the states of Punjab and Haryana. One Rohit Sharma approached us in 2018 to help generate interest in our brand through the franchisee route with relevant local investors. The project required him to help raise investments of up to 50 crore for the purpose of setting up four-five franchisee stores.”

“The deal with Rohit Sharma required us to pay an upfront brokerage of two percent. A total of 1.6 crore was paid to Sharma in 2019, subject to a full refund in case the deliverables were not met by him within a stipulated time frame. Security cheques to the tune of the sum paid were also taken by our management from Sharma. When the deliverables were not met and the promises of Sharma fell apart, we decided to deposit the security cheques, which bounced. Hence, we decided to go ahead and file the FIR with Pune Police in this matter,” the statement further said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Bachchan Singh said that unit 1 of the crime branch has initiated a probe and Police Sub-Inspector Sunil Kulkarni is the investigating officer in the case.

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