Belapur: A local sessions court has sentenced Aniket Shivaji Indalkar, the mastermind behind a massive fake finance scam, to five years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 1,000. Indalkar was found guilty of defrauding over 350 ordinary citizens to the tune of Rs three crore, under the pretext of offering easy loans through a bogus finance firm.

The scam came to light in January 2019 when the economic offences wing of Navi Mumbai police raided Indalkar's office in Mahape and arrested him.

Indalkar launched a fake finance company called Shivaji Finance in December 2018, operating out of an office in Mahape MIDC. He promoted the business as a loan centre with minimal documentation requirements, attracting a large number of low-income individuals—many of them women—from Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane.

Victims were asked to deposit Rs 30,000 as a mandatory fee to initiate the loan process. Indalkar then lured them further by offering discounts on the deposit if they referred two more customers, creating a multi-level marketing-like chain.

Following numerous complaints, Navi Mumbai’s EOW Unit-1 conducted a raid and arrested Indalkar.

During the trial, Indalkar was found guilty and sentenced accordingly. The court also directed that the seized funds from Indalkar’s accounts be distributed among the complainants. The prosecution was led by government pleader Yogendra Patil.