TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The Mumbai police on Monday took custody of Congressman Mathew Smith in connection with the Rs 22 lakh cheating case, investigation of which was nearly closed until Panjim police arrested him in another Rs 17 lakh fraud case last week.
“They have taken his (Smith) custody on transfer warrant Monday evening. We have finished interrogating him for the offence of duping a city jewellery store last week wherein he confessed to his crime and based on which we managed to recover the gold,” an investigating officer said.
On April 8, the Panjim police had arrested Smith for duping a pan-India store of jewellery including gold coins totally valued at Rs 17 lakh.
According to the store manager’s police complaint, the accused walked into the showroom on March 21 and 22 and purchased a wide variety of jewellery, boasting of his contacts with high-profile politicians in the party. He also allegedly claimed that he was close to a senior Congress leader and made payment through two cheques, which bounced.
An investigation revealed that he had cheated several individuals and industrialists in the neighbouring states following which the police from those states have been seeking his custody for interrogation.
Sources said the police counterparts in Telangana and Kerala, who were also on the lookout for him, have been in constant touch with the Goa police and are expected to arrive in the State this week. “He has duped a number of people of several lakhs of rupees. After proper verification of the complaints, their counterparts have been approaching the local police station seeking his (Smith) custody,” a Panjim police official said. The Andhra Pradesh and Bangalore police teams are also probing a couple of cheating cases with similar modus operandi.
