THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2024
Team Herald
MARGAO: In another landgrab case with a new twist, in South Goa, the buyer and the original landlord seller are dead but that did not prevent this land scam from taking place.
This is about an alleged fraudulent sale deed in Davorlim, where ‘Francisco Colaco (can be called a middleman) ) got the property from a ‘landlord’ (vendor) Paulo Torcato Furtado who is now is dead and sold it to the ‘purchaser’ in that deed, a Joana Faleiro is also dead. The land in question was also partitioned in the name of the late Joana Faleiro. Middleman Colaco then got a fake deed of succession and got his name included in forms I and IV. It was discovered later that the sale deed was not registered with the Sub registrar’s office and a fake deed number was used for all transactions
As per a complaint filed before various authorities, Francisco Colaco, a resident of Davorlim, is accused of using a forged deed of sale created by using forged stamps of the Salcete Sub-Registrar and Civil Registrar and by using illegal stamp papers in the name of late Joana Faleiro and for misleading the government authorities by way of this land scam.
Incidentally, the late Faleiro and Colaco are two of the 17 accused persons in the FIRs filed by Fatorda Police in June 2021 based on the complaints of land grabbing that were lodged by the Salcete Mamlatdar. These cases are in the process of being transferred to the Special Investigation Team (SIT). But the person, according to a complaint, who seems to be misleading and enjoying the property is Colaco.
In this particular case, there was another complainant, Francisco Dias, who wrote to the Maina Curtorim Police Inspector, the Chief Secretary, the South District Collector, the Salcete Deputy Collector and the Salcete Sub-Registrar giving details about this alleged fraud.
As per Dias, Francisco Colaco, a resident of Tolleband, Davorlim, is involved in a land scam in property surveyed under survey no3/3 of Davorlim, by using a fraudulent deed of sale, which was created by using fraudulent stamps of the Sub-Registrar and Civil Registrar of Salcete. Thereafter, Colaco is accused of carrying out the partition in the name of the late Joana Faleiro, after she passed away
Dias alleged that Colaco typed a deed of sale in the name of the landlord (late) Paulo Torcato Furtado as the ‘Vendor’ and in the name of (late) Joana Faleiro as the 'Purchaser'.
Dias later found out through inquiries, that there is no such ‘Deed of Sale’ registered in the records of the Sub-Registrar of Salcete, even though it is allegedly being held and used by Colaco before various government departments.
“That the aforesaid person Francisco Colaco is causing a land scam by using the said fraudulent deed and thereafter executing a fraudulent deed of succession too, so as to mutate his name in the occupant’s column of the survey form 1&14 of the said Davorlim property,” read the complainant’s letter.
Against this backdrop, it was reiterated that the fraudulent deed of sale is a transaction of fraudulent land transfer.
“The fraud has been committed against the government and against the actual owners of the said property, who are unaware of the said facts as the fraudulent deed has been shown as a transaction from the office of the Sub-Registrar of Salcete but the same does not stand registered before the same office,” the complainant added.
It was alleged that Colaco used a fraudulent sale deed, which is not registered in the Salcete Sub-Registrar’s office but bears a fraudulent number and fraudulent rubber stamps of Salcete Civil-Registrar and Sub-Registrar.
Dias argued that the stamp papers used for the purpose of making the said deed of sale are unregistered as the same neither bears the signature and stamp of the Stamp Vendors nor any stamps of the government treasury. Dias pointed out that thus the said stamp papers used for making the fraudulent document are illegal, which means the document is bogus.
In his complaint, Dias further explained that using the fraudulent Sale Deed, Colaco had carried out the partition of the aforementioned portion of the land.
“By way of the aforesaid fraudulent document, which is created in the fashion of a ‘Deed of Sale’, a part of the property surveyed under survey no 3/3 of Davorlim village of Salcete taluka is mentioned to have been sold to said Joana Faleiro to the extent of an area of 1,556 square metres,” read the complainant’s letter.
He alleged that this was done either by misguiding the office of the Deputy Collector and Sub-Divisional Officer (SDM) of Salcete or being in connivance with the staff/employees thereof.
It was also pointed out that Joana Faleiro expired on June 17, 2019 during the pendency of the application for partition but the said facts about Faleiro’s death were not brought before the court in the said partition case.
Moreover, there were also discrepancies in the documents where the late Faleiro had used finger impressions in some cases and given her signatures in other cases, which raised the doubts of forgery.
Dias pointed out that the said deed of sale produced before the Salcete Dy Collector & SDM bore the signature of Joana Faleiro as the ‘purchaser’. However, the application for partition filed before the Deputy Collector & SDM bore the finger impression of Faleiro.
Similarly, the ‘Wakaltnama’ that was filed by an advocate also bore the impression of Faleiro. The complainant alleged that this proved that Faleiro was not able to read and write and thus could not sign.
Incidentally, there was also an application filed before the Salcete sub-registrar asking for certified copies based on the details provided on the fraudulent Sale Deed. However, the document that was found to be registered in the records of the sub-registrar therein was that of a Gift Deed in the records of a property surveyed under survey no 6/8 of Loutolim village of Salcete taluka and not the aforesaid Sale Deed.
Moreover, the complainant had also filed for certified copies of the partition case under RTI, whereby he was provided the copies along with the copy of the said Sale Deed.
The complainant alleged that the then Salcete Mamlatdar had also allowed the illegal mutations against the mutation entry no 75091, 81414 and 81402 of Davorlim village with respect to the said property.
Based on this, the complainant urged the authorities to also seize the illegal documents and other connected illegal documents based on which the accused person had carried out the land scam.
The names of the advocates and witnesses involved were also mentioned in the complaint.
