Pune: A sessions court in the city has directed five banks to transfer Rs57.59 lakh from the accounts held by three accused and their two private companies to the account of a Kothrud-based IT engineer and victim of a Rs14.39 crore fraud committed last year on the pretext of curing his two daughters of serious ailments by way of black magic rituals. The accused held these accounts in four private banks and a cooperative bank. Additional sessions judge PR Choudhary passed the order on Feb 27 while allowing a criminal miscellaneous application filed by the complainant in connection with FIR registered by Kothrud police station. The court also directed the complainant to execute a ‘supurtnama’ bond of Rs60 lakh and furnish an undertaking that he would redeposit the amount, if required, during the pendency of the criminal case.The case pertains to allegations that a woman claiming to possess spiritual healing powers, along with her husband and a spiritual guru associated with them, was cheating the IT engineer and his family by promising to cure his two daughters of serious ailments by performing some rituals. The police case is that the accused persuaded the family over several years to transfer large sums of money and even sell properties in the UK and Pune, leading to losses estimated around Rs 14.39 crore. During the investigation, the police had freezed the bank accounts held by the three accused and their two firms. The seized financial assets included bank balances, fixed deposits, insurance policies etc. The complainant approached the court seeking directions to defreeze these accounts and transfer the amounts to him. The accused filed replies stating that they had no objection to the funds being transferred. The court also verified the no-objection from the accused during the proceedings.In view of the consent expressed by the accused and after hearing the parties, the court directed all the banks to transfer the balances in the accounts to the complainant’s account. A particular bank was also directed to transfer fixed deposits worth over Rs 41 lakh, while the insurer was ordered to release the surrender value of multiple policies.
