Thane, March 30 Fraudsters are alleged to have duped 11 residents of Thane district in Maharashtra by promising affordable housing under a government scheme, and they forged documents to open bank accounts for larger financial transactions, police said on Monday.
A 54-year-old woman from Ulhasnagar in Thane, who is the complainant in the case, alleged that the accused gained her trust by promising to provide a house under the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) scheme at a concessional rate.
The accused lured the complainant and others by offering MHADA flats at a low price and collected money from them over the last two years. They also misused their personal details to procure SIM cards, create email IDs, and open bank accounts, an official from Hill Line police station said.
The accused allegedly collected Rs 5,000 each from 11 victims, collecting a total of Rs 55,000. They used the victims' credentials to route larger financial transactions through bank accounts opened in their names, he said.
"They allegedly transferred funds to various bank accounts of companies and builders using forged signatures and documents, thereby cheating the victims and breaching their trust," the official said.
Following the woman's complaint on Saturday, the police registered a case against three persons under relevant provisions for cheating and forgery, he said.
The police suspect that more individuals may have been cheated and urged people to verify claims related to government housing schemes before making payments.