Businessman cheated out of Rs 65 cr in turmeric farming project

Apr 7, 2025, 23:23 IST

Text Size

Small
Medium
Large

Businessman cheated out of Rs 65 cr in turmeric farming project

Rajkot: A 32-year-old businessman and his partners were cheated of Rs 65 crore by 19 people, who lured them with promises of high returns by investing in a turmeric farming project.
The victim, Prashant Kanabar, lodged a complaint at the DCB police station against the 19, including Sandesh Khamkar, Prashant Jhade, Hiren Patel, Rohit Lonkar, and Kamlesh Ojha of AS Agri and Aqua LLP.
The accused showed Kanabar and his partners, who are have a agriculture products trading company, attractive promotional videos on YouTube and lured them into a contract farming agreement for 54 acres of land, involving a polyhouse setup for turmeric cultivation.
Kanabar and his partners invested a total of Rs 64.8 crore in the accused's company between July and September 2021. The agreement mentioned that the company would return Rs 64.8 crore annually for six years starting January 2023, after an initial 16-month setup period. However, no polyhouse was ever built, and no payments were made to the investors as agreed.

Kanabar told the police that the investment was made after detailed discussions and presentations by company representatives, including a meeting in Ahmedabad. The project promised a return of Rs 1.2 crore per acre per year on an investment of the same amount, with the remaining Rs 80 lakh per acre to be borne by the company.
Kanabar and his partners also leased 108 acres of suitable farmland from farmers across Gujarat, spending an additional Rs 3.24 crore in agreements and advance payments. However, when payments did not begin as promised in Jan 2023, the investors began demanding answers.
The accused allegedly kept giving false assurances and excuses. Kanabar later found that similar fraudulent schemes were floated by the company in Vadodara, Amreli, Thane, and Pune, and FIRs were lodged in those regions as well.
Preliminary investigation also revealed that Sandesh, Jhade, and Samant are currently in jail in connection with similar crimes, a DCB officer said.

End of Article