4 forge documents, sell dead Israeli siblings’ land to Panvel builder for Rs 2.3 cr; hunt on for 2 agents, 2 ‘landowners’

NAVI MUMBAI: Panvel City police have registered a case of cheating and forgery against four men, including two estate agents, for allegedly duping a Kharghar builder of nearly Rs 2.3 crore by fraudulently selling him a 47 guntha (approximately 4,755 sq m) parcel of land in Karanjade, which belonged to brothers Nathan and Shalom Eliyahu Chincholkar, who were Israel natives born in Panvel. The brothers migrated to Israel decades ago, and passed away in 2011 and 2016, respectively.

In his complaint, builder Prashant Patekar (55) said that in 2024, estate agent Amrit Thakur told him that a 47 guntha land located at survey number 81/2 in Karanjade was up for sale, and that the property documents were given to him by an estate agent from Thane, Suraj Shinde. Patekar verified the documents through a lawyer, and found them to be authentic.

Patekar said he called the two 'landowners' Nathan and Shalom, Shinde, an unidentified agent, and Thakur at his office, and the land sale deal was finalised at Rs 5 lakh per guntha. An MoU was signed, and a purchase notice of the property was published in a local newspaper on June 6, 2024, for objections, if any.

The land purchase sale deed agreement was registered at the sub-registrar office, Panvel-1, on Aug 23, 2024, where the imposters submitted forged property documents and Aadhaar and PAN cards. Patekar told police that he paid the 'landowners' Rs 2.3 crore between June 5, 2024, and Oct 7, 2025, via cheque and RTGS.

On Aug 18, 2025, Orian Moses Penkar, who was given power of attorney by Shalom's son Bechalel on July 16, 2025, at the Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv, sent a notice to Patekar stating that he had fraudulently purchased the land. When Patekar questioned the 'landowners' through Shinde, they claimed the complaint was false.

Then Aslam Munshi, on behalf of Bethel Israeli Trust's chief trustee Moses E Jacob Korlekar, approached police alleging that the 'landowners' were impostors.

Police summoned all parties for the investigation into the land sale application, but Shinde, and the other three co-accused did not appear for several months.

On further enquiries, Patekar found that original farmers, Nathan and Shalom, had migrated to Israel decades ago, and died there. Their heirs resided in Israel and America, and Shalom's son, Bechalel, had given the power of attorney to Penkar. Nathan's son Emil Bezanmin alias Chincholkar and his wife Daisy also flew down from Israel for the application inquiry.

After examining their documents, Patekar was convinced that he had been cheated. He then filed a complaint against Shinde and the three co-accused on Feb 16.

PSI Sachin Powar said, "We are looking for Shinde and his aides. Thakur claimed that he was unaware that Shinde had forged the property documents and that the landowners were impostors. Hence, he is not made an accused in the FIR."