Disputed land scam: Lawyer arrested for fraud of Rs 2.40 crore

Mumbai: Azad Maidan police have arrested a 32-year-old lawyer from Shivaji Nagar in Parbhani district for allegedly making a fraudulent land deal worth ₹2.4 crore with a businessman. Lawyer Sunil Shivaji Budhwant took the help of Govind Rahate and Jagdish Anchan to cheat Jayant Kanjibhai Patel.

Police said Patel wanted to buy land for business and through broker Suresh Bodh, he was introduced to Nagraj Devendra, who claimed to have the right to sell a disputed land in Borivali after the death of its owner. Devendra tells Patel that lawyer Nitin Mane can resolve the land dispute as the matter is in the High Court and a court receiver has been appointed to settle it.

Mane quoted a fee of ₹50 lakh, to which Patel transferred the amount to Mane’s account. Later, Ravikumar (who later turns out to be Budhwant) introduces himself as the lawyer of Parvez Irani, one of the new owners of the land. Patel was told that the land was worth ₹6 crore, but he could divide it between the disputed owners and Irani in deals of ₹4 crore and ₹2 crore. On Mane’s insistence, Patel gave ₹2.5 crore in cash and a check of ₹1.5 crore to Ravikumar and Irani, who later turned out to be Rajkumar Ramsevak Singh.

On Patel’s written complaint to the Additional Commissioner of Police (South Mumbai), an FIR was registered in October 2022 against advocates Nitin Mane, Rajkumar Singh and Sunil Budhwant for impersonation, cheating and forgery under the Indian Penal Code. An arrest was made in this case only recently.