Mumbai: A Dubai-based woman and her sister were allegedly defrauded of Rs3.85 crore in an investment scam by an owner of a Navi Mumbai-based financial service firm Saish FinCap.
When the sisters – Amrita, 58, and Anjana, demanded their money back, the firm owner, Hariharan alias Hari Janardhan Iyer, 52, allegedly threatened them with dire consequences, claiming connections with a Dubai-based gangster.
In 2021, Anjana introduced Amrita to Hariharan, who promoted Saish FinCap as a commodity exchange finance firm offering 18% annual returns. Trusting his claims, the sisters invested Rs3.85 crore between 2021 and 2022 through RTGS, NEFT, and cheques.
Hariharan guaranteed that the principal and interest would be returned within 11 months, but later cited financial losses and postponed the repayment by six months. In September 2023, Hariharan gave the sisters a written assurance, promising to repay Rs3.75 crore by March 31, 2024.
However, when the deadline passed, he claimed the money was tied up in a film project and warned them not to demand repayment until after the film’s release. Frustrated by the delay, Amrita travelled from Dubai to confront him, but Hariharan refused to return the money.
When she later contacted him from Dubai, he allegedly abused her over the phone and threatened her, saying he had connections with Dubai-based gangsters and could have her killed there. Following the threats, the sisters filed a complaint with the Mumbai Airport Police, leading to the registration of an FIR.
The case is now being handled by the Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) of the Mumbai Crime Branch, which is investigating Hariharan’s financial dealings and verifying his alleged gangster links.
