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A Delhi-based businessman has alleged that he was cheated of Rs 41.63 crore after transferring 56 lakh shares of Kohinoor Foods Limited to a Maharashtra resident who failed to clear the agreed payment. The entire transaction was finalised at Rs 49.28 crore, but the buyer allegedly remitted only Rs 7.65 crore before defaulting on the rest. Acting on the complaint lodged by Jugal Kishore Arora, a resident of Civil Lines in Delhi, the Surajkund police registered a case under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code on November 3. The investigation has now been transferred to the Economic Offences Wing, NIT Zone, to trace the transactions and scrutinise the role of multiple individuals, including family members of the key accused and officials of a Mumbai-based firm.
Agreements executed in two tranches
According to the complaint, the alleged fraud originated in July 2022 when Amesh Surajlal Jaiswal, a resident of Hingoli in Maharashtra, visited Arora at his office situated in the Surajkund area of Faridabad. During these discussions, Jaiswal expressed his intention to purchase Arora’s equity holding in Kohinoor Foods Limited. On July 22, 2022, both parties finalised an agreement for 10 lakh shares at a rate of Rs 88 per share, bringing the initial deal value to Rs 8.80 crore. The buyer assured the complainant that payment would be delivered through a cheque bearing the same date. Although Jaiswal failed to hand over the cheque, Arora transferred the 10 lakh shares directly into Jaiswal’s demat account in good faith.
The dealings expanded a month later when the parties entered into a second agreement on August 22, 2022, for an additional 46 lakh shares priced at Rs 40.48 crore. Following this agreement, Arora transferred the second parcel of shares into the same demat account, taking the total volume of transferred stock to 56 lakh shares valued at Rs 49.28 crore. Against this substantial transfer, Jaiswal allegedly released only Rs 7.65 crore, leaving an unpaid balance of Rs 41.63 crore. The complainant maintained that repeated requests for the remaining funds yielded no result.
Subsequent memorandum and pledge dispute
As the dispute dragged on, a formal Memorandum of Understanding was executed between the parties on February 3, 2023. In that document, Jaiswal acknowledged that he remained in possession of either the 56 lakh shares or the financial proceeds generated from their sale. Despite this written acknowledgement, the pending settlement and the return of the equity remained unresolved. Arora stated that Jaiswal subsequently proposed raising funds by pledging shares worth Rs 40 crore with a Mumbai-based investment firm to secure a credit facility of Rs 20 crore.
Under this proposed arrangement, the Mumbai firm received 26 lakh shares from the accused. However, the financier allegedly released only Rs 5 crore toward the credit arrangement and withheld the remaining Rs 15 crore, while retaining custody of the transferred equity. This prompted Arora to name the investment firm and its directors in his complaint, accusing them of acting in connivance with the primary buyer to misappropriate the shares.
Police launch multi-state financial inquiry
The complaint names Jaiswal, his wife, other members of his family, and the directors of the Mumbai-based investment firm as co-conspirators in the alleged swindle. Faridabad police spokesperson Yashpal confirmed that a formal case stands registered against the named suspects along with unidentified associates, and procedural inquiries are underway. The Economic Offences Wing is examining the chain of documentation, comprising the initial sales agreements, the subsequent memorandum of understanding, demat transfer receipts, and corresponding bank records, to identify how the stock was handled and whether the resulting funds were deliberately diverted.
