A high-profile scam run by salon owner Sweety Shah has come to light, leaving more than 5,000 investors cheated of over ₹12.5 crore. The Odhav police have arrested Sweety, while her brother Prateek Shah and a Dubai-based associate, Harshil, are on the run.
Sweety, who owned a luxury salon in Paldi and had over 34,000 Instagram followers, used her glamorous image to gain trust. She promised investors massive monthly returns, claiming her company dealt in stock trading, real estate, filmmaking, and retail chains.
The scam surfaced when Arvind Patel, a 57-year-old factory owner from Naroda, filed a complaint. He had invested ₹10 lakh along with his manager Janvi Joshi, who introduced him to Sweety and her brother. The duo ran a company called N Life Capture LLP under the Quick Start 24 Group, which turned out to be fake.
Police say Sweety used several shell companies and showed fake business operations across various states and even Dubai. Some firms included names like Quick Start 24 Foundation, Nlife Multi Trade, Blossom Light Elegance, and more.
Sweety’s beauty salon is now suspected to have been a front to trap women investors. Police are also checking if her salon clients were targeted. Shockingly, even some of their own legal advisors were fooled and lost money.
When Patel asked for a refund, Sweety allegedly threatened to file a false defamation case against him. The police have started tracking financial records and investor details to uncover the full extent of the fraud.