Freedom 251 maker Mohit Goel arrested for Rs 41 lakh fraud

Mohit Goel, who was briefly in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, is back to his old ways. Goel had grabbed the nation’s attention in 2017 after launching his fraudulent ‘Freedom 251’ smartphone for Rs 251 apiece.

More recently, he was arrested by police from Greater Noida on August 23 for being part of a Rs 41-crore dry fruit business scam. This is not the first time that he has been arrested.

After his ‘Freedom 251’ smartphone scam, Goel was running a company called Dubai Dry Fruits and Spices Hub from an office complex in Sector 61, Noida.

The police has said they received over 40 written complaints of fraud from various traders across Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, among others, against Goel. Apart from this, another 35 cases of cheating and other crimes are pending against him all over the country.

As per reports, Vikas Mittal from Indirapuram filed an FIR against Goel and five others, alleging fraud of Rs 41 lakh. The complainant also alleged that Goel threatened and tried to run over him by a car. Based on the complaint, Goel was arrested by the police.

He has been arrested under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 384 (extortion), 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach), 506 (intimidation), 307 (attempt to murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).

Earlier, he was arrested for fraud when he failed to deliver the Freedom 251 smartphone to consumers after they had ‘purchased’ it from his company Ringing Bells Private Limited. In 2018, he was held by police allegedly in an extortion case. This is the third time he has had a brush with the law.

He came under the media spotlight when he announced the launch of the world’s cheapest smartphone at Rs 251 under the Freedom 251 scheme. It received over 30,000 bookings, but most of the buyers never got the smartphone or the money. Company officials at that time had claimed they had refunded all customers who had pre-booked the smartphone.

Goel was caught red-handed in the smartphone scam after government officials discovered the product did not have the Bureau of Indian standard (BIS) certification. He got into further trouble when its customer service provider Cyfuture also accused him of fraud and non-payment of dues. CNBCTV18