Airline owner arrested for cheating Netherlands resident of ₹5 crore
Owner of private airline arrested for cheating Dutch resident of ₹5 crores by promising to sell a utility aircraft
MUMBAI: An owner of a private airline has been arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) for allegedly cheating a resident of the Netherlands out of ₹5 crores by promising to sell a utility aircraft, a Cessna 208, to him. The police said that when the resident, who is involved in selling and buying aircraft, didn’t receive delivery of the plane, he inquired and discovered that the plane was already mortgaged with a bank and that several litigations are pending before various courts, which have instructed the airline owner not to sell any assets.
The EOW officers said that they have arrested the accused, Ammeet Agarwal, president and CEO of Supreme Transport Organisation Private Limited, who also operates Supreme Aviation and resides in JB Nagar, Andheri East. “We will produce Agarwal before a court on Thursday,” confirmed an EOW official.”
According to officials, Agarwal cheated Michiel Kneefel, the proprietor of Trek Air B.V., a company involved in buying and selling aircraft. Kneefel came into contact with Agarwal when the latter informed him that he wanted to sell his damaged Cessna 208B small aircraft.
Accordingly, in July 2022, after the price was agreed upon, the parties even made an agreement, following which ₹4 crore 56 lakh was transferred to a bank account as instructed by Agarwal,” said the police officer.
Agarwal then demanded an additional ₹49 lakh from the complainant. Subsequently, he made another demand of ₹4.60 crore from the complainant.
“While the complainant started moving the aircraft towards Mundra Port in Gujarat, he received an email from a bank informing him that it had financed the purchase of the plane and that it was mortgaged with them,” said the EOW officer.
The complainant further learned that several litigations were pending against Agarwal and his companies, and various courts and tribunals had ordered not to sell any of the assets until the matters were decided. The Mundra Port was also prohibited from transporting the plane further.
“After this, the complainant felt cheated and approached the EOW, which conducted an inquiry and registered a case at Sahar police station. Subsequently, we arrested Agarwal,” said the official. The complainant was cheated to the tune of ₹5 crore by Agarwal and his accomplices.
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