Thane, May 27 A special court in Thane has convicted a 46-year-old former life insurance manager for defrauding people of more than Rs 3.51 crore under the pretext of high-yield stock market returns and sentenced him to two years in rigorous imprisonment.
Special Judge of the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act (MPID) Court, D.R. Deshpande, found the accused, Ravikiran Joshi, guilty under sections 420 (cheating) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code along with Section 3 of the MPID Act, 1999.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Joshi,
The prosecution stated that between 2015 and 2021, Joshi, who worked with a prominent life insurer, lured retail professionals and colleagues with false promises of a monthly return of 10 to 15 per cent on share market investments.
The main complainant, a manager at a local mobile retail store, was swindled of Rs 1.38 crore through a combination of cash advances and 120 high-end smartphones procured on credit under the guise of corporate staff distribution. Other investors were also cheated of substantial amount, according to the prosecution.
The special judge, in its order on Tuesday, noted that the prosecution had successfully proved the charges against Joshi.
The court ruled that the accused had deliberately diverted hard-earned public funds directly into his personal channels rather than routing them to the stock market.
