Man transfers friend’s life savings into his own account, hours after his death

The police registered the FIR following a complaint lodged by the wife of the deceased on Friday, alleging that the friend transferred her husband’s entire lifetime within hours of his death last year

Navi Mumbai: The CBD Belapur police have booked a man for allegedly withdrawing Rs. 30 lakh fraudulently from his friend’s account just hours after he passed away. The police registered the FIR following a complaint lodged by the wife of the deceased on Friday, alleging that the friend transferred her husband’s entire lifetime within hours of his death last year.

HT Image

As per the complaint lodged with the police, the deceased, identified as Upkar Singh (57), who retired as manager of a state-run petroleum company, was a good friend of the accused, Amit Singh. Over the years, their friendship grew so strong that the accused started living with the deceased at his residence.

“The deceased and his wife were staying separately since 2001, with both visiting each other occasionally. The wife, a cafe owner in Bangalore, resided in Goa whereas the deceased was a resident of Kalamboli.

Last year, in November, the accused contacted the complainant, informing her about the deteriorating health of her husband, who was admitted to the Apollo Hospital, Belapur for treatment.

In the FIR, the wife stated that on reaching the hospital, she had inquired with the accused about her husband’s phone, who denied possessing it. On the morning of November 29, the husband passed away while undergoing treatment.

The following day, the wife visited banks to close the accounts held by her husband. At one of the banks, she got to know that just two hours after her husband died, a sum of 30 lakhs was transferred to the account of the accused, who, it is believed, procured the account details from the husband and used his phone to get the money transferred without his knowledge.

“We have secured the proof of the transactions and further investigation is underway,” said the investigating officer.

A case has been registered under the section 404 (dishonestly misappropriating property of a deceased person) and 420 (cheating) of Indian Penal Code.