What started as a promising gold rush ended in a multimillion-rupee nightmare for Raipur’s Samarth Bardia and Mukul Chopra. Duped by Yash Rajesh Shah’s phantom Tanzanian mine, they lost nearly ₹2 crore—until police intervened at Mumbai airport.
Shah hooked Samarth via an online platform in 2024, boasting of his Tanzanian gold asset and a 50% partnership slice. The pitch worked; Samarth transferred ₹1.9 crore. Shah’s March visit to Raipur, complete with mine intel, drew in Mukul too. A Tanzania fact-finding trip cemented their trust, prompting full payment.
Post-transaction, Shah flipped: no responses, no mine. Forged papers unraveled under police scrutiny after the January 22 complaint at Civil Lines station. Raipur sleuths traced him to Mumbai, where he plotted a Vietnam escape.
The airport stakeout paid off, with Shah in custody. Officers describe it as a textbook greed trap, with Shah possibly linked to bigger rackets. Victims are piecing lives back, but the episode spotlights vulnerabilities in digital-age deals. Experts advise escrow accounts and legal vetting for international ventures to dodge such pitfalls.