Mumbai, April 21: The sessions court has refused to grant anticipatory bail to former secretary Nikhil Mulraj Toprani (48) and former treasurer Vallabh Premji Shah (68) of Sunshine Infinity, located in Wadala (West), for allegedly siphoning off funds to the tune of Rs. 2 crores from March 2022 till 2025.
Allegations of fund misappropriation
As per the prosecution case, the society was to be redeveloped, but the builder went bankrupt. Hence, the redevelopment project was cancelled on July 14, 2024. A few days later, a member of the developer had revealed that Toprani and Shah had misappropriated funds of the society.
Suspicious transactions flagged
It was claimed that on March 8, 2022, Toprani, with the help of Shah, transferred a huge sum of Rs. 17.27 lakhs belonging to the society to one Sumandeep University, Baroda, without any reason and without taking consent of the General Body of the Sunshine Co-operative Society.
Audit reveals alleged fake billing
The new managing committee later sought a financial audit of the society accounts. The probe revealed that they prepared false bills, purportedly issued by the vendors, and thereby diverted the funds of the society. The applicants created a scene that the funds of the society were being paid to the vendors who supplied construction material for the tower. But actually, the amount was not paid to the vendors. The bills were false.
Defence denies allegations
The lawyer of the two, Lokesh Zade, however, while seeking protection from arrest, denied that the bills were fake and claimed that all the payments were made as per the instructions of the vendors and not on their own.
“It is submitted that once execution of work is established, the allegation of fake billing becomes inherently untenable. The prosecution has not produced any material to show that the work was not carried out or that the payments were fictitious. The reliance solely on audit observations without examining ground realities renders the prosecution case weak and speculative,” the defence claimed.
Court cites need for custodial interrogation
The lawyer for the complainant, Kiran Varma, contended that if the bills and invoices are seen, it becomes clear that there is no GST number and signatures of the vendors on them; this itself is evidence that they submitted false bills in the name of vendors to the society.
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“The applicants were well aware that there would be a detailed audit of the society in which such payment made to the third party like university would be picked up. Yet, the applicants dared,” the court said while refusing to grant anticipatory bail to the two accused, adding that there is a need for their custodial interrogation.
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