A 56-year-old man, Dattatray Ganpati Mohite, has been arrested for allegedly masterminding a multi-crore housing scam in Navi Mumbai, which duped thousands of investors, primarily from Delhi, with fraudulent promises tied to land ownership and government-secured returns.
According to law enforcement officials, Mohite was apprehended in Raigad, Maharashtra, after being wanted in multiple fraud cases. He was the driving force behind the now-defunct Pragati Valley Project, operated through a shell company called Pragati Land & Housing Corporation.
Mohite lured investors with false claims of lucrative land holdings, high returns, and even forged government endorsements, none of which were legally authorized. Victims were persuaded to invest through both cheques and cash, collectively amounting to over Rs20 crore.
Authorities said Mohite’s operation created a facade of legitimacy through dummy documentation, targeted marketing, and verbal assurances, making the fraud difficult to detect initially. Many of the investors have since reported being left without any returns or legal ownership of land.
Investigations are ongoing to track down his accomplices and trace the assets acquired through this large-scale deception. Police sources confirmed that this was a carefully coordinated real estate scam designed to exploit trust in government-backed housing initiatives.
