Mumbai: A criminal case has been registered against a woman for allegedly misappropriating the life savings of her brother, who died of Covid last year. The cops also booked a police sub-inspector and a lawyer, as well as a banker, for allegedly helping the woman.
Charkop Police registered an FIR after the deceased’s wife approached a court, which ordered police to register an offense and investigate the matter.
49-year-old Ms. J Anthony is a teacher and has been working in Oman since 2000. Her husband Ambrose Anthony used to work in a private company in Muscat while their children stayed in India. The family has an apartment in Malad West and the applicant and her husband visited the house once or twice a year.
According to the police complaint, the applicant’s husband fell ill with Covid in April 2021 while in India and was admitted to a private hospital in Malad West. Anthony came to India from Oman on April 13, 2021 to take care of her husband. However, on April 21, 2021, he died of a fatal infection.
After her husband’s final rituals were performed, Anthony claimed that her sister-in-law, Jenifer Atken Fereira, snatched her brother’s iPhone from Anthony’s hand in front of everyone. She also suspected that Fereira had hidden her husband’s laptop, savings book, passport, fixed deposit documents, watch from a Rado company, etc. She claimed that the sister-in-law refused to hand over all of this to her and also argued with her.
Anthony later discovered that Fereira had also allegedly fraudulently withdrawn money from her husband’s bank account using his ATM card and also transferred money from his bank account to her bank account.
“Fereira did not provide the bank with any information about her husband’s death and withdrew the money from his account. Fereira also allegedly used her brother’s cell phone to cash in and transfer two fixed deposits opened by her brother before they were due €34,58,351 of the FDs to her personal bank account. When Anthony reported her to the police on August 17, 2021, she was returned €24 lakh in a bank account she shared with Anthony’s son,” Anthony claimed on FIR.
Anthony claimed that the bank’s manager also helped Fereira in the alleged fraudulent activities. She claimed that the attorney she hired to legally fight Fereira also helped Fereira. She claimed that the lawyer, taking advantage of her lack of knowledge of the law, secretly obtained her signature on a document asking the police to drop their complaint against Fereira.
The applicant has alleged that a sub-inspector at Charkop Police Station dropped Anthony’s complaint on the basis of the letter submitted by her lawyer. The police officer intentionally delayed the registration of the FIR and also provided false information in response to a request under the Right of Access Act. The investigating officer indicated that the complainant (Anthony) was present in person together with the lawyer and submitted a motion to have the complaint dismissed. However, Anthony was in Oman at the time, Anthony said in her statement to the police.
According to the court order, Charkop Police have registered an FIR under Sections 166A(B), 378, 404, 415, 416, 424, 425, 34 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act against Fereira, the Sub-Inspector of Police , the lawyer and the banker.
