Police file one more cheating case against Gautam Pashankar

Pune: A fresh case of cheating, involving complaints by a 61-year-old businessman from Malegaon in Nashik and a Pune Camp resident, has been registered against two-wheeler dealer and realtor Gautam Pashankar and one of his aides, for failure to deliver flats booked in a housing project at Kharadi in 2015.
Inspector Sunil Thopte from the Chandannagar police said, “The Malegaon resident in his complaint said he had paid Rs1.56 crore on December 12, 2015 to Pashankar for a flat in the project at Kharadi.He said Pashankar had assured him to hand over the flat’s possession within two years.”
He added, “The complainant approached Pashankar on several occasions in the last two years demanding possession of the flat, but the site is still under construction. The victim then asked for a refund and Pashankar promised to pay. But he did not give any refund to the complainant,” said Thopte.
“We merged another similar complaint by a Pune Camp resident with this case, as it also pertains to a flat in the same housing project. The Camp resident had paid Rs82 lakh to Pashankar for a flat in the same scheme. However, Pashankar did not hand over possession of the flat, but took a loan of Rs2 crore by mortgaging the same flat to a credit cooperative society. The victim learnt about this loan transaction a year ago and collected all documentary evidence from the bank and other sources before approached police,” Thopte said.
The police have registered the case under sections 406 (Criminal Breach of Trust), 420 (Cheating) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
TOI on Thursday made several calls to Pashankar’s son, Kapil, who is now handling the family business, but he did not answer the calls nor did he respond to the text message raising queries about the fresh case.
On September 11, the Shivajinagar police had registered a case against Pashankar, his daughter, Rinul, and an estate broker after a business development and management consultant Narendra Patil (42) lodged a complaint accusing them of cheating him of Rs2.40 cr over a deal for two flats in the same housing project at Kharadi.
Patil had also accused Pashankar of assaulting him in the latter’s office when he demanded a refund after realising that the realtor had sold the two flats to third parties. He claimed to have then suffered a fracture to his right leg in the assault, which, he said, took place on June 8, 2020. Kapil Pashankar has denied all these charges and said Patil was not speaking the truth.