Belief in miracle money multiplier leaves Dadar doctor poorer by 25L

Mumbai: A doctor was made to believe that magic chemicals could quadruple money in an instant. This would have been news in itself had it not been for the fact that the prospect of 300% returns made her submit Rs25 lakh for this novel instrument of investment and lose it. Though the police have caught the 'alchemists' who promised Dr Usha Mehta of Dadar the moon, the money is yet to be recovered. 

    A common friend introduced Mehta to Pawan Singh, Abhishek Singh and Sarji. "They took her to a hotel in Lonavala, where they demonstrated to her how a single currency note of Rs1,000 could bring three more, thus totaling Rs4,000. They showed her some sheets of paper, kept them atop one another and kept the Rs1,000 note on top. Then they applied a chemical to the note. After waiting for a few seconds, they removed the sheets of paper to reveal the additional notes. Of course, it was sleight of hand," said senior inspector of the crime branch's anti-extortion cell Nitin Alaknure. 
    When the doctor wanted to thus 'invest' a particular amount, the trio told her it needed to be at least Rs25 lakh, saying they accepted only big orders as the chemical required was expensive and had to be imported from Nepal. "They also took Rs2 lakh from her to 'import the chemical'," Alaknure said. 
    When Mehta brought Rs25 lakh to the trio in Lonavala, she was asked to wait while the notes were converted—"a time-consuming process given the amount". "All of a sudden, she heard screams from inside the room where her money was. She rushed in to find two of the men hitting the third one, accusing him of blundering and burning the notes," said inspector Sudhir Dalvi. "They told her they needed more time as the chemical had to be imported again. This happened in November last year. This January, when Mehta inquired about her money, the trio told her to forget about it since it was 'in any case black money' and threatened to inform the income tax department." 
    Mehta approached the police, who laid a trap and caught the three, who the police said had spent the money by splurging on holidays and luxury goods. "We are now looking for a middleman who got a cut of the amount," said crime branch chief Himanshu Roy.

1 
Dr Usha Mehta is introduced 
to three men who say they can quadruple bank notes

2 
She gives them Rs25 lakh to 
be subjected to the magic chemical treatment

3 
During the 'process', they 
tell her that due to a mistake the notes got burnt

4 
When she asks for her 
money, they threaten to set income tax sleuths on her