Mumbai: Illegal transfer of deceased woman’s SoBo flat rectified after 13 years

Former society secretary’s diligence leads to rightful transfer of Colaba flat back to deceased owner’s name

After thirteen years, justice has been served for a 60-year-old woman who passed away in 2011. Annie Dias, a resident of Usha Kiran Society in Colaba, owned a 2-BHK flat worth Rs 2 crore. However, after her death, her flat was illegally transferred to John Lobo using a fake nomination certificate, with the assistance of some unknown society members. The discrepancies in the documents were noticed by the former society secretary, Tanya D’Souza, who raised the issue with the registrar. Annie, who lived alone, was found dead in her locked flat in 2011. The decomposed body of Annie was discovered in her flat after two days. Despite the flat being registered under Annie and her sister Bruna Dias's names, John managed to transfer the flat to his name using fraudulent means.

Tanya D’Souza said, “In 2019, I was the society secretary when suspicions arose regarding Annie's nomination certificate. Upon investigation, I found that Annie’s signature was missing from the nomination form, and John had signed it himself. Despite my efforts to rectify the situation, I faced harassment from the society committee and was forced to resign. Finally, I contacted Annie’s family, who reside in America. I found out that her sister Bruna, had passed away, and her son Jonathan Sallick is living with his family in America. I contacted Jonathan, and he sent a complaint to the registrar.” “Until 2022, nothing happened, then their lawyer sent a legal notice to the registrar. Finally, the registrar ordered the flat to be transferred back to Annie,” D’Souza added.

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Tanya D’Souza, former secretary

Former Secretary Gemma Martin admitted her oversight, stating, “I signed the nomination form without noticing the missing signature of Annie and instead accepted John's signature. It was an error on my part, we rectified it in October 2023." Deputy Registrar Medha Gopal Vake of Cooperative Society A division of Mumbai confirmed the rectification, stating, "Upon investigation, it was found that Annie's signature was missing from the nomination form, leading to the immediate transfer of the flat back to her name as per legal directives." 

Rs 2cr
Cost of the flat

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