Ahmedabad businessman duped of ₹63 lakh in spice trade investment fraud

The Ahmedabad Crime Branch has registered a case of cheating against a man accused of duping two investors of over ₹63 lakh by luring them with promises of high returns from a purported clove and badia (star anise) trade with Everest Spices Company.

As per the complaint filed on September 2, the accused, identified as Ridhesh Rameshbhai Parekh, allegedly told the complainant, Jimit Rohitbhai Shah (40), and his sister-in-law Sonalben Bhavsar, that he was supplying spices to Everest Spices and earning a 5–6% profit margin on each shipment. He assured them that if they advanced him money for purchasing consignments from Mumbai, he would return 1.5% profit on their investment.

Trusting him, Shah, a senior sales manager at a city jewellery firm, and his family members transferred a total of ₹1.66 crore between January and April 2025 to Parekh’s bank accounts. Of this, around ₹1.27 crore was returned, but the remaining ₹39.07 lakh was not repaid. Additionally, Parekh allegedly received ₹24 lakh from Sonalben Bhavsar under the same pretext, which too has not been returned.

In all, the accused is alleged to have misappropriated ₹63.07 lakh, betraying the trust of both complainants.

According to the police, the money was transferred in instalments to two accounts — an Indian Overseas Bank joint account held by Parekh and his wife Krupaben, and a State Bank of India account in Parekh’s name.

The case has been registered under sections of cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police have initiated an investigation into the matter, and efforts are underway to trace Parekh.

A senior police officer said, “The accused leveraged personal connections to win the trust of the victims. Initial investigation suggests that the money was diverted and not invested in any spice trade as claimed.”