Events & Personalities
The Rs 20 lakh mystery
All seven trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) have called for a police probe into the source of the Rs 21.43 lakhs in cash and some gold jewelry found in the cupboard of its late chief executive officer Mehli Colah who succumbed to cancer in December 2013. On September 23, 2014 they wrote to the MRA Police to start investigations in the matter which once again sparked off conspiracy theories involving real estate deals of the BPP. Ashok Jagdale, senior inspector of the police station while confirming that he had received the letter informed Hindustan Times (HT) of September 24, 2014: "We will call the trustees to know what exactly they want to complain about. If any cognizable material is found in the application, and they (trustees) file a complaint regarding the same, we will lodge an FIR (first information report) accordingly.” The matter is likely to be forwarded to the Charity Commissioner as well, HT reported.
"We had not touched Colah’s cupboards since his death but there were several important documents that we needed, so we decided to open them in the presence of other trustees and legal staff on Tuesday (September 16),” BPP trustee Arnavaz Mistry told Mumbai Mirror (MM) on September 22, 2014. Three cupboards were opened and in the third one "we found two bundles of Rs 15 lakhs and five lakhs kept in a plastic bag.” Mistry added that they also found jewelry and small amounts of money from several drawers and shelves that totaled over one lakh rupees.
BPP chairman Dinshaw Mehta told The Times of India (TOI) of September 22, 2014 that for "the last four to five Tuesdays, an inventory has been taken of all (Colah’s) cupboards, which were kept locked.” Since Colah was trustee of various trusts, agiaries and anjumans, Mehta felt that the source of the funds might have been from the sale of shares or may have been kept in "safe custody” by the BPP when a community member passed away without any legal heirs. Legally, however, if a person dies without any heirs, the money, assets, etc are supposed to be deposited with the government.
Community activist Kersi Randeria linked the discovery of the cash to the case of the Bora Bazar property, Dady House, which was transferred in lieu of the BPP receiving Rs 65, reported TOI. Trustees Khojeste Mistree, Yazdi Desai, Arnavaz Mistry and Jimmy Mistry had filed a case against Mehta with the Economic Offences Wing for misappropriating part of the transfer fee, reported TOI. Mehta however, had contended that the amount agreed on was Rs 45 lakhs and not Rs 65 lakhs.
"We had not touched Colah’s cupboards since his death but there were several important documents that we needed, so we decided to open them in the presence of other trustees and legal staff on Tuesday (September 16),” BPP trustee Arnavaz Mistry told Mumbai Mirror (MM) on September 22, 2014. Three cupboards were opened and in the third one "we found two bundles of Rs 15 lakhs and five lakhs kept in a plastic bag.” Mistry added that they also found jewelry and small amounts of money from several drawers and shelves that totaled over one lakh rupees.
BPP chairman Dinshaw Mehta told The Times of India (TOI) of September 22, 2014 that for "the last four to five Tuesdays, an inventory has been taken of all (Colah’s) cupboards, which were kept locked.” Since Colah was trustee of various trusts, agiaries and anjumans, Mehta felt that the source of the funds might have been from the sale of shares or may have been kept in "safe custody” by the BPP when a community member passed away without any legal heirs. Legally, however, if a person dies without any heirs, the money, assets, etc are supposed to be deposited with the government.
Community activist Kersi Randeria linked the discovery of the cash to the case of the Bora Bazar property, Dady House, which was transferred in lieu of the BPP receiving Rs 65, reported TOI. Trustees Khojeste Mistree, Yazdi Desai, Arnavaz Mistry and Jimmy Mistry had filed a case against Mehta with the Economic Offences Wing for misappropriating part of the transfer fee, reported TOI. Mehta however, had contended that the amount agreed on was Rs 45 lakhs and not Rs 65 lakhs.
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