Ambulance scam in Surat

As many as 13 investors lost hefty amounts after a tutor at a municipal hospital in Surat and his partners allegedly cheated them of ₹5.24 cr by promising a 50% profit in their ambulance business.

As per the complaint filed on May 18, Kapil Sahane, a biochemistry tutor at SMIMER (Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research) hospital & medical college, was approached by his friend and fellow tutor Hardik Patwa in August 2021.

Patwa offered Sahane to invest in a project for his company to provide ambulance services to various hospitals and large companies and make hefty profits.

He introduced his partners, Hemanth Parmar and Mayur Goswami. To further strengthen his alleged fraud, Patwa also presented an agreement with Maharashtra’s JSW Steel Ltd, which issued a tender for ambulance requirements and a deal of 12 ambulances being on the cards. He asked Sahane to come aboard this venture.

Patwa also presented a bogus order signed by an authorised person of the company, mentioning an order for 8 out of the 12 ambulances by the company. An investment of ₹7 cr was required, and the company would pay ₹3.46 cr in return, as per the order.

Convinced by Patwa’s pitch, Sahane spoke to his friends and conducted a meeting at the clinic of Dr Keyur Prajapati.

Patwa presented the company’s service order and offered a 50% profit division between him and the rest of the investors. Over this, Sahane and his friends invested ₹5.24 cr between October 2021 and July 2022.

Sahane faced a monetary requirement in August 2023 and asked Patwa for ₹25.70 lakh. However, despite promising to pay the amount in two months, Patwa stopped showing up to work and switched off his mobile phone. He had even locked his house and gone completely underground.

While all the investors were perturbed by his disappearance, Patwa called up Sahane and met him in person to disclose that the investment money, used for investing in cryptocurrency, did not yield any returns and that he was in debt.

Police have filed a case in this matter and nabbed Patwa’s partners, Hemanth and Mayur.

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