Mumbai Crime: Man cheated out of Rs 3.75 crore inheritance

Jeron D’Souza met the accused woman at the bank where he had deposited part of the money. Representative pic

The Andheri police are looking for a woman and a man who separately cheated a 73-year-old of Rs 3.75 crore. While the woman lured him with the promise of marriage and cheated him of Rs 1.30 crore, the man cheated him of R2.45 crore on the pretext of keeping it safe for him. The police registered FIRs in both cases on Thursday.

According to the police, Jeron John D'Souza, a resident of Manori in Malad, works as a recovery agent for a finance company and earns R10,000 per month. In 2010 after his father's plot near Santacruz domestic airport was sold to a builder, D'Souza received R2 crore as 20 per cent of the total amount. D'Souza divided the amount and deposited it in different banks. Accused Shalini Singh was an employee in one of the banks in Andheri and befriended D'Souza.

In September 2020, she met him and proposed marriage. "She said she will start a business with his money and they could divide the profit. In December 2020, he transferred R1.30 crore to Singh. She rented a flat where she met D'Souza and gave him R10,000 for rent. But she ignored the topic of marriage each time he asked," said a police officer.

"After Singh received the money, she stopped meeting D'Souza and answering his calls," the police officer added.

Around the same time, D'Souza was also cheated by Shankar Panchal on R2.45 crore. Panchal allegedly told D'Souza that the Income Tax (IT) department will conduct an enquiry into the money in his bank accounts. He offered D'Souza to keep the money in his account, where it'd escape the IT department's scrutiny.

In 2018, D'Souza received threatening phone calls and an IT show-cause notice for his account in a Malad bank. The account was sealed by the IT department. While it was later released, he also received another notice which stated that the department will seal all bank accounts.

D'Souza then transferred his money into Panchal's account. Panchal also asked D'Souza to stay with him in Koldongri, Andheri East. Soon after D'Souza moved in and the money was transferred, Panchal started drinking. Which promoted D'Souza to move to a friend's place in Gorai. When D'Souza later asked for his money, Panchal refused to return it.

"We have registered two different FIRs against three people under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and begun investigation. We are looking for both the accused," said an officer from Andheri police.

Rs 2cr
Amount Jeron got from sale of his father's land