Ahmedabad cloth trader booked for ₹74 lakh cheating after bulk purchase on credit

The Ahmedabad Crime Branch has registered a case of alleged cheating and criminal breach of trust against a city-based cloth trader accused of purchasing goods worth ₹74.78 lakh on credit and failing to make payment despite repeated assurances.

The complaint was lodged by Motera resident Giriraj Amitkumar Mohta, 23, who represents three family-run wholesale firms engaged in the trading of shirting and suiting fabric — Motilal Poonamchand, Mahalakshmi Trading Company and Mahalakshmi Textile. The firms operate from the New Cloth Market area in the city.

The accused, Harsh alias Honeybhai Umeshchandra Dubey, proprietor of Om Enterprise, approached the complainant’s firms in August 2018, claiming to be engaged in the wholesale business of sewing cloth. Dubey allegedly assured the complainant that payments for goods purchased would be cleared within 90 days.

Between August 18 and October 15, 2018, Dubey is said to have procured multiple consignments of suiting and shirting cloth from the three firms. The complainant alleged that goods worth ₹7.32 lakh were purchased from Motilal Poonamchand, ₹50.41 lakh from Mahalakshmi Trading Company, and ₹17.05 lakh from Mahalakshmi Textile.

Police said that while a partial payment of ₹90,000 was made in instalments by December 2019, the remaining amount of ₹74.78 lakh remains outstanding.

The complainant has alleged that despite repeated personal visits and telephonic follow-ups, the accused failed to honour his commitments. It has further been alleged that the trader sold the goods at lower prices elsewhere and utilised the proceeds for personal purposes, thereby intentionally deceiving the firms.

Dubey had provided GST details of his firm, Om Enterprise, and claimed to have longstanding business links in the textile sector to gain the complainant’s trust. The complainant alleged that the accused subsequently cancelled his GST registration in December 2019 after availing input tax credit benefits.

Based on the complaint and supporting documents, including GST records and account statements submitted by the firms, the Economic Offences Wing of the Crime Branch has registered a case.