MUMBAI: A 55-year-old businessman from Bhendi Bazaar and his son-in-law were duped of ₹5 crore by a purported civic contractor. The JJ Marg police said that following the businessman’s complaint they have registered a case against the contractor and will now take action against him.
According to the police, the victim, Anis Nizam Khan, runs a company that supplies JCBs, excavators, and even owns ships that are given out on rent. Khan came to know the accused, Mohammed Gulam Roshan, through his son-in-law since the duo are neighbours in Dongri.
The police said that in 2022 Roshan told Khan he had gotten a three-year contract from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to clean seven civic hospitals, but was required to make an initial deposit of ₹5 crore, as a “bank guarantee”. Roshan asked Khan to lend him the money, promising to return the original amount in three years and in addition pay him a commission of ₹18 lakh per month.
Khan told the police that since he stood to gain a profit of ₹4.32 crore from the deal, he agreed to lend the money to Roshan. While Khan shelled out ₹1 crore, his son-in-law put the remaining ₹4 crore. Both parties registered an agreement for the deal, and as per the agreement, Roshan was not to sell, lease, or gift his flat on the Jerabai Wadia road until he had repaid the loan. Roshan also submitted documents of a flat in Mazgaon, under his wife’s name, as a guarantee.
Following the deal in November 2022, Roshan alleged that his relationship with his wife was troubled. Claiming to be ‘disturbed’ by the issues at home, Roshan asked Khan to return his property documents and said that he would sell his two flats and repay the ₹5 crore. Since the son-in-law’s family was close to Roshan’s family, Khan agreed to return the documents to him.
The police said that in January, 2023, the complainant did not get ₹18 lakh as promised. However, in the subsequent months, Khan fell ill, and his son-in-law was arrested in a separate case in March 2024. The duo lost touch with the accused and in March 2025 when Farooq was released, they found that Roshan had separated from his wife, sold both his properties, but none of that money had been returned to Khan.
Realising they had been duped, Khan approached the police on Friday. “The alleged accused took his flat documents from the complainants, and did not return the ₹5 crore nor returned any monthly ₹18 lakh. We have registered an offence against Roshan under sections 418 (cheating with knowledge that wrongful loss may ensue to a person whose interest offender is bound to protect), 419 (punishment for cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code,” said a police officer.