n Was also involved in 2 other land cases n On the run since 2013, he was trapped at a shack in Arossim
PANAJI
In a huge breakthrough, Moises Fernandes one of the main accused in the Dr Otilia Mascarenhas land grab case has been arrested by the Goa Police Economic Offences Wing, in a related case, after a more than a three year hunt.
Moises was trapped by the police at a shack in Arossim on March 1 where he was working. Moises was laying low since December 2013 after his bail was cancelled.
Moises, who was the buyer of Dr Otilia’s property sold to him by a person who impersonated her dead uncle, was also involved in two other cases -- one in Porvorim opposite where Dr Otilia lives and belonging to one Francis Anselm D’Souza and his wife Sandra, and another in Pilerne. In both cases, he was supposedly granted Power of Attorney by the original owners.
Speaking to The Goan, police sources in the Economic Offence Cell of the Goa Police said that while Moises was arrested in the case related to the property belonging to Francis Anselm D’Souza and Dr Sandra deSa Souza, he is likely to be subsequently arrested under those cases as well.
Moises, acting on the power of attorney of Francis Anselm D’Souza sold land in Porvorim to one Estevan D’Souza and Abdul Aziz Khan for ` 30-lakh. The sale deed was registered at the Mapusa sub-registrar’s office on September 25, 2013. The property is located in survey No. 372/2 in Socorro in Bardez and is 1550 sq mts.
However, the reality is Francis Anselm D’Souza who allegedly gave his power of attorney to Moises died in April 2013 and his wife Dr Sandra deSa Souza ~ an eminent surgeon consulting at Breach Candy and Jaslok Hospitals in Mumbai ~ had written to the Mamlatdar office at Mapusa objecting to any mutation being carried out on her property.
In the sale deed Moises claimed that Francis Anselm D’Souza was unmarried, 55 years old and resides at Malabar Hills in Mumbai.
Ever since Dr Otilia Mascarenhas blew the lid on the illegal sale of her land, the two other cases came to light. However, tragically, in the third case in Pilerne there are no known legal heirs that can be contacted and it is as yet unclear who the land should be returned to once the case reaches its conclusion.
In all three cases, the same names crop up -- Moises João Fernandes, the buyer of the first property and subsequently a witness in another sale deed on the same property. [Moises was a witness to ‘his’ property being sold to a third party], Estevan D’Souza, Abdul Aziz Khan and Mohammed Sohail.
Police believe that Mohammed Sohail is the main mastermind in the case and that both Moises and Estevan were used as “mules” to sign documents that they have no stake in. Tracing the money is also a huge challenge.
Mohammed Sohail was granted bail by the court earlier, but the police have subsequently moved for cancellation of bail for violating the conditions of the bail. He however met with a serious accident and was in coma, but has since recovered.
