Mid-Day Impact: Andheri senior citizen gets property back after 22 months

A senior citizen who had been struggling for the last 22 months to get back his 2BHK Andheri apartment from the possession of serial con artist Clarence Pereira has finally got the keys to his flat Bharat Patel 66 thanked midday for highlighting the truth which prompted the cops to swing into action which ultimately helped him secure possession of the property worth nearly Rs 2 crorePatel had rented out his flat in Andheri East to Raphael Pereira the son of Clarence in February 2023 Soon after the Patel family decided to sell the property and asked Raphael to vacate in March 2023ldquoThe entire Pereira familymdashRaphael his parents Clarence and Nancy and his sister Rachellemdashhad been staying at my Andheri flat After he learnt that I was planning to sell the property Clarence tried to defraud me I sent him multiple notices to vacate the property and he stopped paying me rent from March 2023rdquo Patel recalledBharat Patel flat ownerldquoI was deeply concerned about saving my property and felt absolutely helpless when my son searched for his name online and discovered that he had previously been arrested by Khar police for attempting to usurp a multicrore bungalow belonging to a woman Since it was a story highlighted by midday we decided to approach the newspaper The first article carried by midday gave me hope that it would help me regain possession of my propertyrdquo Patel saidPatel said the series of reports carried in midday not only mounted pressure on the Andheri police to register an FIR but also helped the police trace the location of Clarence who was arrested from Goa ldquoSince Clarence had forged documents to stake claim to my property the court directed him to hand over the keys to the flat whose possession I received on December 2 Irsquom a common citizen and the huge support from midday helped me get back my property after 22 months of struggle Thank you midday for helping merdquo However the senior citizen lamented that though the keys to the flat were surrendered in the court in Bandra the property was left in a complete mess ldquoThe geyser shower and fans are missing from the property The beams of the flat have been damaged to install air conditioners The jet spray and exhaust fans from the toilets are also missingrdquo he said adding that the court has asked him to list and evaluate the damage to the property and accordingly he has mentioned everything in his complaint which will be submitted before the court on December 13ldquoThe total damage amounts to R150 lakh The family needs to pay me outstanding rent amounting to Rs 746 lakh So the collective loss sums up to Rs 9 lakh which I am going to highlight in the courtrdquo Patel saidA fresh FIR was registered against Clarence for cheating forgery and house trespassing in December 2023 two months after midday highlighted Patelrsquos property issue After he learnt that he had been booked in a fresh FIR Clarence went underground and had been hiding in Goa Subsequently he was arrested from GoaIn November 2021 midday exposed Clarence after he seized a bungalow worth Rs 25 crore in Khar evicting the owner The 54yearold woman Marietta Fernandes had been living in the bungalow in Chuim Village in Khar West with her deceased mother for 10 months due to depression The Khar police received a complaint from a neighbour removed the body and sent Marietta to a mental hospital in Thane for treatmentHowever Pereira posed Mariettarsquos uncle and got her released from the mental hospital He then took her to Khar police station claiming ownership of the bungalowAfter obtaining the keys to the bungalow Pereira abandoned Marietta on the road near the airport A local resident helped her out and informed her brother in Dubai and midday about the incidentClarence has a criminal record and had been arrested by the Bandra and Khar police earlier for cheating and sexual abuse cases against him