Delhi cops arrest four of family in Goa in gold investment scam

New Delhi: The economic offences wing of the Delhi Police has arrested four members of a family for allegedly duping over 26 investors of Rs 1.24 crore through a fraudulent gold investment scheme, the police said on Tuesday.

The accused – Mukesh Verma (53), his wife, son Rhythm Verma (25) and father Om Prakash Verma – were apprehended from Candolim in Goa on June 13 after months of technical surveillance and field investigation, the EOW in a statement said.

According to the EOW, all four accused had been declared proclaimed offenders by a city court on April 9, after they allegedly evaded investigation and court proceedings.

“A team was constituted to trace the accused. Through sustained technical surveillance, local intelligence gathering and field investigation, the team tracked them down in Goa. Following their arrest, the accused were produced in a court in Mapusa in Goa,” the statement read.

The Delhi Police obtained transit remand to bring them to Delhi and produce them before the city court in Rohini.

“The case stems from a complaint lodged by a person, who alleged that Mukesh Verma, director of Abhinandan Jewellers, along with his family members, induced him and several others to invest in a purported gold investment scheme by promising assured returns,” deputy commissioner of police (EOW) Amit Verma said.

The police said the complainant invested Rs 14.70 lakh through banking channels.

An additional Rs 2.50 lakh in cash was given to the accused. The investors were allegedly assured that they would either receive gold or be reimbursed with profit after a stipulated period.

During the course of the investigation, similar complaints from 25 other victims were received and clubbed with the case. A team probing the case found that investors had collectively invested approximately Rs 1.24 crore in the scheme.

“The accused shut down their business operations abruptly in March 2025 and disappeared from their known addresses without returning either the invested amounts, the promised returns or the gold,” read the statement.

Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered at the EOW police station on May 20, 2025, under Sections 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), 318(4) (cheating) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the BNS and Section 3 of the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act.

The police said the investigation revealed that Mukesh Verma was operating Abhinandan Jewellers and was primarily responsible for collecting investments from victims. The probe also established the active involvement of his family members in the operation of the alleged fraudulent investment scheme.

Despite repeated notices and legal processes, the accused did not join the investigation and allegedly concealed their whereabouts. Subsequently, they were declared proclaimed offenders.