Police have arrested a 38-year-old man who allegedly posed as the owner of realty firm Pragati Buildcon and cheated a Chandan Nagar jeweller of ₹14.78 lakh by taking 100 grams of gold bars on the pretext of purchasing them, police said on Wednesday.

The accused has been identified as Siddharth Devdas Zende of Indapur. Police arrested him from a five-star hotel in Chandrapur. The incident took place on August 3 and 4 at a jewellery shop in Chandan Nagar.

According to the police, Zende and a woman visited the jewellery shop on Old Mundhwa Road near Dwarkagarden in Chandan Nagar and after allegedly gaining the jeweller’s confidence obtained three gold biscuits weighing 100 grams in total, valued at ₹14,78,760.

Zende allegedly handed over a bank cheque to the jeweller as payment and took the gold. When the payment failed, the assistant branch manager of the jewellery store approached Chandan Nagar police on August 6.

Police registered a case under Sections 316(2), 318(4) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

During questioning, Zende allegedly told police that he had sold the gold biscuits to a jeweller in Indapur and received cash in return. Police recovered ₹8.50 lakh from Zende.

Ashwini Jagtap, senior inspector, Chandan Nagar police station, said the investigation revealed that Zende allegedly used a similar modus operandi to cheat several people. He allegedly targeted car dealers, hotel operators and, women by making marriage-related promises, with cases registered against him at Bhigwan and Vimantal police stations.

Police are investigating whether the woman who allegedly accompanied Zende and any other associates were involved in the fraud.