Mid-Day Impact: Andheri senior citizen gets property back after 22 months

Patel shows damage to the main door of his flat; (top right) a wide beam drilled to fix an air conditioning unit; (right) the kitchen wall has been damaged by hammering in nails. Pics/Anurag Ahire

A senior citizen, who had been struggling for the last 22 months to get back his 2BHK Andheri apartment from the possession of serial con artist Clarence Pereira, has finally got the keys to his flat. Bharat Patel, 66, thanked mid-day for highlighting the truth which prompted the cops to swing into action, which ultimately helped him secure possession of the property worth nearly Rs 2 crore.

Patel had rented out his flat in Andheri East to Raphael Pereira, the son of Clarence, in February 2023. Soon after, the Patel family decided to sell the property and asked Raphael to vacate in March 2023.

"The entire Pereira family - Raphael, his parents Clarence and Nancy, and his sister Rachelle - had been staying at my Andheri flat. After he learnt that I was planning to sell the property, Clarence tried to defraud me. I sent him multiple notices to vacate the property and he stopped paying me rent from March 2023," Patel recalled.

Bharat Patel, flat owner

"I was deeply concerned about saving my property and felt absolutely helpless when my son searched for his name online and discovered that he had previously been arrested by Khar police for attempting to usurp a multi-crore bungalow belonging to a woman. Since it was a story highlighted by mid-day, we decided to approach the newspaper. The first article carried by mid-day gave me hope that it would help me regain possession of my property," Patel said.

Patel said the series of reports carried in mid-day not only mounted pressure on the Andheri police to register an FIR, but also helped the police trace the location of Clarence, who was arrested from Goa. "Since Clarence had forged documents to stake claim to my property, the court directed him to hand over the keys to the flat, whose possession I received on December 2. I'm a common citizen and the huge support from mid-day helped me get back my property after 22 months of struggle. Thank you, mid-day for helping me." However, the senior citizen lamented that though the keys to the flat were surrendered in the court in Bandra, the property was left in a complete mess. "The geyser, shower and fans are missing from the property. The beams of the flat have been damaged to install air conditioners. The jet spray and exhaust fans from the toilets are also missing," he said, adding that the court has asked him to list and evaluate the damage to the property and accordingly, he has mentioned everything in his complaint which will be submitted before the court on December 13.

"The total damage amounts to R1.50 lakh. The family needs to pay me outstanding rent amounting to Rs 7.46 lakh. So, the collective loss sums up to Rs 9 lakh, which I am going to highlight in the court," Patel said.

A fresh FIR was registered against Clarence for cheating, forgery and house trespassing in December 2023, two months after mid-day highlighted Patel's property issue. After he learnt that he had been booked in a fresh FIR, Clarence went underground and had been hiding in Goa. Subsequently, he was arrested from Goa.

In November 2021, mid-day exposed Clarence after he seized a bungalow worth Rs 25 crore in Khar, evicting the owner. The 54-year-old woman, Marietta Fernandes, had been living in the bungalow in Chuim Village in Khar West with her deceased mother for 10 months due to depression. The Khar police received a complaint from a neighbour, removed the body, and sent Marietta to a mental hospital in Thane for treatment.

However, Pereira posed Marietta's uncle and got her released from the mental hospital. He then took her to Khar police station, claiming ownership of the bungalow.

After obtaining the keys to the bungalow, Pereira abandoned Marietta on the road near the airport. A local resident helped her out and informed her brother in Dubai and mid-day about the incident.

Clarence has a criminal record and had been arrested by the Bandra and Khar police earlier for cheating and sexual abuse cases against him.