Dongri man promised aid for daughter's treatment, duped of ₹5 lakh

A man from Dongri, Mumbai, was cheated of ₹5 lakh by a fraud promising financial assistance for his daughter's kidney treatment, leading to her death.

Mumbai: A 39-year-old man from Dongri, who was struggling to arrange funds for his daughter’s kidney treatment, was cheated of ₹5 lakh by a fraud who promised to get him financial assistance through a number of government and private schemes to pay for the hospital bills.

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The victim, identified as Mohammad Nadeem Mohammad Hanif Mansuri, runs a four-wheeler spare parts shop in Mumbai. His daughter was suffering from a kidney ailment and was undergoing dialysis at Bhatia Hospital in Tardeo for more than three years. Mansuri was told by a doctor attached to a Sion-based hospital that the dialysis treatment would cost between ₹25 to ₹30 lakh.

Mansuri, who was going door-to-door to raise money for the treatment, was introduced to Irfan Tamboli from Nashik by one of his relatives. Tamboli had helped the relatives get money from various charitable organisations for their daughter’s cancer treatment and thus he was highly recommended. Tamboli met Mansuri and advised them to pay at least ₹7 lakh to government officials in order to fast-track work to get financial assistance.

On March 18, 2023, Tamboli made Mansuri sell his family’s jewellery worth ₹5 lakh and he took the money. On April 3, 2023, the girl died and the father demanded his money back. Tamboli gave him a cheque in December, 2023 that bounced. Mansuri then approached the JJ Marg police, which verified the facts and registered a case against Tamboli on April 5, said a police officer.

The police said Tamboli told Mansuri that for ₹35 lakh, he would have to pay ₹10 lakh to babus and for ₹25 lakh, an amount of ₹7 lakh. Mansuri, the complainant in the case, said that he did not have much money but he decided to pay Tamboli by selling his wife’s jewellery. He said that after selling gold ornaments he could allegedly provide ₹5 lakh and give the amount to Tamboli.

Tamboli also said he knew a jeweller who could give an appropriate amount for selling his jewellery. But the complainant’s daughter had passed away. Tamboli thereafter said that he would return his amount.

Mansuri called him repeatedly on his mobile asking him to return the money after which he gave him a bogus cheque and fled.