Mumbai, July 3: Months after an octogenarian, Maureen Matilda Paul, had lodged a case at Khar police station, accusing a man of usurping her shop valued at ₹1.3 crore, Khar police arrested the accused, Eric Mathias on July 1.
The accused had grabbed the shop located at St Vincent De Paul Cooperative Housing Society in Khar (West) on October 31 by tricking the octogenarian into signing the sale deed in the name of a few legal documents.
According to Khar Police, the cheating came to light when Paul had gone to sell her shop, but was shocked to learn that an agreement was already drawn on the same shop's sale deed. Upon enquiries, it was revealed that Mathias, who was given the power of attorney by Paul in a legal case a few years ago, duped her by misusing the document.
The 84-year-old woman was forced to camp outside the property. The society and the Association of Concerned Catholics registered a police complaint against the alleged illegal possession. They told the police that the society had not issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) to Mathias for any resale deed.
Mathias had helped Paul in a case involving a tenant, wherein she trusted him with the power of attorney in the case. He had also given ₹5 lakh on pretext of getting it back after the shop's sale, but he fraudulently registered a sale deed and took Paul' signature when she underwent a cataract operation.
