₹45 Crore Cheating Case: Cops Find 'Incriminating' Recordings Against Firoz Lakdawala

In the Rs45 crore cheating case, the Esplanade court on Friday remanded Firoz Lakdawala, son of late builder Yusuf Lakdawala, and his Chartered Accountant (CA) Akhtar Peerbhoy to police custody till July 9. The Economic Offences Wing had arrested the duo on July 5 following an FIR lodged by Yusuf's widow, who is Firoz's stepmother, in May.

Late Yusuf had reportedly appointed Noor, Firoz's wife, as additional company director. She allegedly misused her position by illegally appointing her husband as additional director to transfer all properties in their names. Meanwhile, Noor and Company Secretary Vyoma Desai are on the run.

Firoz is not cooperating with the investigation, said the police. “When he was asked to bring the documents related to the case, he did not get them,” said a cop on condition of anonymity.

The police had recently conducted raids and searches at the offices of the accused. “Firoz transferred shares of companies into his accounts. Photocopies of cheques used for these transactions have been found as crucial evidence,” said the cops.

Further investigation revealed that there are 120 call recordings between him and Peerbhoy, in which they are discussing to change the director of a company. The probe also revealed that the accused committed the crime using a third person's email address and mobile phone. The digital evidence will be sent for forensic analysis.

Representing Firoz, Advocate K H Giri said, “It’s a family dispute regarding properties. Civil suit for partition filed by the same complainant is pending before the Bombay High Court. It’s necessarily a civil dispute and not a criminal case.”

A case has been filed against the accused for cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy at the Amboli police station.