In what is shaping up to be one of the most shocking financial scandals of 2024, the United Church of Northern India Trust Association (UCNITA) is at the center of a brewing legal storm involving fraudulent documents, bogus directors, and potentially millions in misappropriated property. As this unfolding drama sweeps across courts, companies, and police stations, it has gripped public attention and raised serious questions about the safeguarding of India’s trust organizations.
The saga began in August 2024, when Dr. Vishwas Jaidev Sirwaiya, Treasurer of UCNITA, lodged a formal complaint with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and the Registrar of Companies (ROC) in Mumbai, accusing an alleged group of impostors of infiltrating the Trust’s management and manipulating official records to seize control of its vast assets. Sirwaiya’s complaint, filed on August 12, 2024, uncovered a staggering scheme that could have cost UCNITA and its stakeholders crores of rupees in property losses. But the shocking revelations didn’t end there.
A High-Stakes Takeover
UCNITA, originally founded under the Companies Act of 1913 and registered under the Mumbai Public Trust Act of 1950, holds properties across India. For decades, its leadership remained steady, with officers such as B. K. Nayak serving as President, Silvan Christen as Vice President, and others holding key roles. But in August, everything changed.
According to the complaint, the Trust received a startling email on August 10, 2024, from the MCA. It revealed that a new set of directors—Yohan Immanuel, Tom Salakhial Molommo, Arunkumar Rai, and Amit David—had been fraudulently registered as UCNITA’s new leadership. This shocking discovery sent tremors through the organization, as Sirwaiya and his fellow directors quickly realized that their names had been deleted from the official records, replaced by individuals they had never heard of.
Within days, more emails followed, each confirming the complete takeover of UCNITA by these alleged fraudsters. On August 14, 2024, Sirwaiya lodged a second complaint, this time with the ROC in Mumbai, denouncing the takeover and calling for an immediate reversal of the fraudulent changes. It became clear that someone had orchestrated a high-stakes, illegal coup to seize control of UCNITA—and its substantial property holdings—using falsified documents, fake seals, and fraudulent board resolutions.
The Trail of Fraud
The scale of the fraudulent takeover is staggering. As the investigation has unfolded, it has become evident that the new so-called “directors” of UCNITA had uploaded an array of false documents to official government portals, including the MCA and ROC websites. These documents allegedly featured fake resolutions and letterheads, allowing the impostor directors to claim control of the Trust and erase the legitimate board members from the records.
Even more disturbingly, it has been revealed that this scheme is part of a broader network of fraudulent activity. The rogue directors reportedly orchestrated similar scams in multiple states across India, including Rajasthan, using the same tactics to seize control of other trusts and companies.
The heart of the fraud appears to revolve around the use of UCNITA’s properties, valued in the crores. The new “directors” were poised to sell off these properties for personal gain, having already illegally sold valuable assets, including a property in Belgaon, which was worth crores, on April 27, 2023. One name, in particular, stands out: Yohan Immanuel, a key figure in the takeover, who allegedly promised not to sell UCNITA’s assets but went on to do so anyway. The revelation that Yohan and his co-conspirators opened a fraudulent bank account in UCNITA’s name in 2005 only adds to the gravity of their alleged crimes.
Bogus PAN Cards and Illegal Property Deals
This scandal is not limited to fake board appointments. The investigation has revealed that the fraudulent directors were involved in a series of illegal property deals stretching back over a decade. One particularly egregious case dates back to 2011 when the impostors used a bogus PAN card to purchase property belonging to the COEMAR Trust in Sangli and subsequently sold it to a real estate company in Pune.
These revelations have sent shockwaves through India’s financial and legal circles, as questions mount over how such a large-scale fraud could have gone undetected for so long. The fraudulent directors’ ability to manipulate government records and bypass regulatory oversight raises serious concerns about the safeguards in place to prevent similar scams in the future.
The Fallout: Legal Battles and Criminal Charges
As of September 2024, the legal battle is now playing out in the courts. The case was brought before the Additional Sessions Judge Shri N.P. Tribhuwan in Mumbai, with Shamik Dasgupta and Rakhi Dasgupta—the alleged conspirators—applying for anticipatory bail in connection with the case. However, their plea was denied, with the court citing the seriousness of the allegations and the potential threat to ongoing investigations. The judge remarked that “grant of anticipatory bail particularly in this type of offence would definitely hamper the effective investigation,” underscoring the need for a thorough probe.
The court’s decision highlights the scale of the crime. According to court documents, the accused individuals prepared and uploaded false documents using a digital signature, facilitating the illicit removal of legitimate directors from UCNITA’s records. Investigators believe that the accused have engaged in a deliberate and coordinated effort to misappropriate public property for personal financial gain, possibly amounting to millions in assets.
For the moment, the investigation remains ongoing, and more arrests could follow as authorities work to unravel the full scope of the fraud. But one thing is clear: UCNITA’s scandal has already caused significant damage to the Trust’s reputation and threatens to destabilize faith in India’s trust organizations more broadly.
Looking Ahead
As the scandal unfolds, the question remains: How did these alleged fraudsters manage to bypass so many safeguards, and how many other trusts may have fallen victim to similar schemes? Authorities are now calling for urgent reforms to tighten the regulation of trust organizations and improve oversight of government portals like the MCA and ROC websites, which the fraudsters so easily exploited.
For UCNITA, the road to recovery will be long and fraught with legal challenges. The Trust, once a pillar of integrity, now faces the monumental task of restoring its name and regaining control of its assets. But with millions of rupees already lost, and more potentially at risk, it remains to be seen whether the damage can ever be fully undone.
In the meantime, the public watches closely, as the UCNITA scandal serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities in India’s financial and legal systems—and the high stakes involved when those systems are exploited for personal gain.
Leave a Reply