30 March,2016 07:27 AM IST | | Saurabh Vaktania
Accused forges his father’s signature, while the 80-year-old was in hospital, to transfer the shares from their joint account into his personal account
Based on a complaint filed by an 80-year-old man, officers from Economic Offences Wing (EOW) arrested his son for duping the octogenarian to the tune of crores.
The accused forged his father's signature to transfer shares from their joint account into his personal account, using which he purchased six kilograms of gold. The complainant and the accused have been identified as Borivli residents Shreepal Jain and his son Manoj.
Official speak
Commenting on the case, an EOW officer said that Shreepal was admitted to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in October 2015. During his prolonged stay at the hospital, Manoj filed an application in Bank of India requesting a new delivery instruction book for their joint Demat account. Manoj himself forged Shreepal's signature on the application. Upon receiving a new book, Manoj immediately transferred shares worth over Rs 8 crore into his personal account.
In his statement, Shreepal told the officers that he first discovered the fraud while clearing hospital bills. "The complainant couldn't clear the bills initially because the joint account was empty. He visited the bank to find out the truth and was startled to discover that it was the handiwork of his son," the officer added.
Complaint lodged
Shreepal then confronted Manoj and asked him to return the exact amount he had swindled. While Manoj returned more than R6 crore, he refrained from repaying Rs 2.36 crore despite Shreepal's repeated requests. Fed up with the delay, he approached the EOW and registered a case against Manoj.
A team headed by PI (EOW) Milind Desai initiated a probe into the matter. Based on confiscation of documents and statements recorded, an FIR was registered against Manoj under Sections 420, 465, 467, 471 and 474 of the IPC on March 21.
Manoj was arrested on March 23 and produced in the court, which remanded him in police custody till March 30.
When contacted, PI Desai refused to comment stating that only his superiors were authorised to comment in this matter.
