Fake surety scam: 18 cases registered, 35 arrested so far

Officers are in the process of registering eight more first information reports (FIR) after they found five fake sureties had been submitted in Dindoshi sessions court, while two were submitted in the Esplanade metropolitan magistrate court and one in Kurla metropolitan magistrate court.

The Mumbai Police has registered 18 cases so far in connection with the fake surety scam, in which the accused had allegedly submitted forged documents in courts and gave surety to secure bail of many other accused involved in serious offences like murder, attempt to murder and rape. Police have also arrested around 35 accused out of a total of 201 people allegedly involved in the scam.

The Mumbai Police has registered 18 cases so far in connection with the fake surety scam, in which the accused had allegedly submitted forged documents in courts and gave surety to secure bail of many other accused involved in serious offences like murder, attempt to murder and rape. (Burhaan Kinu/HT File PHOTO)

Officers are in the process of registering eight more first information reports (FIR) after they found five fake sureties had been submitted in Dindoshi sessions court, while two were submitted in the Esplanade metropolitan magistrate court and one in Kurla metropolitan magistrate court. According to crime branch officers, cases will be registered at the police stations concerned soon after documents submitted as sureties are verified.

The scam had been found to be rampant across city courts after the crime branch, in a crack down on touts arranging for fake sureties for those involved in criminal cases , had arrested eight people outside a sessions court on October 25, 2018. The alleged mastermind of the scam, Riyaz Ahmed Mushtaque Ahmed Pathan, during interrogation, confessed to running a syndicate in at least nine court premises across the city, police said.

Pathan allegedly charged between Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000 for fake sureties and documents and arranged for people to appear in court to give surety for the accused. The person appearing to give surety would get Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000 as their cut, an officer said.

The courts took serious note of the issue. Judicial staff stepped forward to become complainants after the investigating agency alerted them of bogus papers being submitted in court as surety to help obtain bail for the accused. “During the initial investigation, 135 bogus sureties were verified and in further inquiry, 66 more were found in 24 court rooms across the city,” said police inspector Vinyak Mer, unit 1 of the crime branch.

Unit 1 has so far registered seven cases and arrested 30 people in connection with the scam.

Apart from that, as per the court staff’s complaint, four cases were registered in Borivli police station. Andheri and Kurla police registered two cases each while Bhoiwada, Azad Maidan and Colaba police registered one case each. In the total 18 cases registered, more than 50 people have been booked under relevant sections for submitting bogus documents in court, said Mer.

The crime branch has formed a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the scam. “The scam is spread across the city, hence SIT was formed in February this year as it required a dedicated team for the investigation,” said deputy commissioner of police Dilip Sawant of the crime branch.