Mumbai: No Bail For Firoz Lakdawala In Family Assets Fraud Case

The Esplanade court, on Thursday, rejected the bail application of Firoz Lakdawala in connection with the Rs45 crore case of allegedly usurping his family’s assets. Son of late developer Yusuf Lakdawala, Firoz was arrested on July 5 by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW). Also arrested was the company’s chartered accountant Akhtar Peerbhoy, who has been granted bail. 

Firoz’s late father Yusuf was arrested in May 2021 by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering case involving usurping writer Mulk Raj Anand’s property in Khandala by allegedly forging ownership documents. He died in custody a few months later. 

Yusuf Lakdawala is said to have appointed his daughter-in-law Noor (Firoz’s wife) as additional director. However, she allegedly misused her position by illegally appointing her husband as additional director to transfer all family assets in his name. The case against Firoz was filed by Yusuf’s step-mother Shabina with the EOW in May.

During the raid at Firoz’s offices, the police found crucial evidence, including photocopies of cheques used for transferring shares into his bank accounts.

The investigation revealed 120 call recordings between him and Peerbhoy, discussing changing the director of one of the companies. The probe also revealed that the fraud was perpetrated allegedly using a third party’s email address and mobile phone. 

A police official, on condition of anonymity, said Firoz failed to produce the documents related to the case, in which his wife Noor and company secretary Vyoma Desai are co-accused.

The case was registered at the Amboli police station under sections 409 (criminal breach of trust), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) 120 (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.