Two Indian real estate agents have been booked for trying to dupe the Saudi Arabian consulate in Mumbai into buying a plot of land that belonged to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), a government agency, reports said. The scam was exposed when the consulate's representative, Rajan Mehrotra, checked the land deeds and alerted the consulate which informed the police, the Times of India reported. The consulate was looking for property to relocate from its existing office from Cuffe Parade. The duo, Prakash Jain, 69, and Vipul Gadodia, 41, allegedly showed the consulate a 10,000 sq m plot that belonged to the MMRDA, for which they wanted SR282 million (Rs 3.58 billion). The agents also reportedly showed the consulate two other plots and quoted a price of over SR472 million (Rs 6 billion) for both the properties The agents were booked for cheating and forgery on Sept. 23. The Times of India quoted a senior police official as saying that the property documents and signature of MMRDA officials were fudged. Investigations are on to trace the owners of the other two plots that the accused had shown to the consulate,'' the officer said.
