Pimpri-Chinchwad: Wakad Man Duped Of ₹77.62 Lakh On Job Promise By Fraudster Claiming To Be Director Of Europe-Based Pharma Company

Wakad: A man from Pimpri-Chinchwad's Wakad has been duped of ₹77.62 lakh on the pretext of being given a job in a Europe-based pharmaceutical company. The accused claimed to be the director of a pharma company in Amsterdam, Netherlands. This incident occurred between December 2024 and July 2025, with the case being registered on Monday. 

A 44-year-old man, a resident of Dutta Mandir Road, has lodged a complaint at Wakad Police Station. A case has been registered against Praveen Vinayak Paritkar (age 62, resident of Wakad), two men named Shiva and Martin, and a woman named Sharma, all of whose full details are currently unknown. 

They have been booked under BNS Sections 316 (criminal breach of trust), 318 (cheating), 3 (common intention), and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act of 2000.

According to the FIR, the complainant was seeking a job when he met the accused Paritkar. Paritkar allegedly told him that he was the director of YEMRK Pharmaceuticals, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and claimed that he was in charge of hirings. He promised to hire the complainant, saying he would have to pay some money and that his position would be official in two to three months. Paritkar sent him an offer letter and a five-year contract worth €8,200 (₹8,33,710 approximately) per month.

The man named Shiva, claiming to be a customs officer, called him and asked him to pay ₹11.70 lakh for documentation purposes, which the complainant sent to the accused Paritkar. Then a woman named Sharma called the complainant and told him that a courier was received in his name and he would have to pay ₹2.25 lakh. For multiple parcels to be approved, the complainant till date paid ₹77,62,142 to multiple people, including accused Paritkar, Shiva, and Sharma.

However, when the complainant asked for updates about the job and demanded his money back, he stopped receiving responses. Realising he was duped, he lodged a complaint at Wakad Police Station. The case has been forwarded to the Cyber Police Station due to the higher amount involved. Police Inspector Ravikiran Nale and his team are investigating the matter further.

After the Hinjawadi and Bhugaon cases, this is the third case within the Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Commissionerate (PCPC) involving people being duped on the pretext of being given a job. However, the Wakad case is a classic example of cyber fraud, while the other two cases involved freshers being hired and then alleging that the companies did not live up to the promises made in their offer letters.