Panvel police have filed chargesheet in the fake inheritance certificate scam that came to light last year in which advocates in collusion with court staff were found issuing fake inheritance certificates by forging the signatures of judicial officers. Five persons, including three lawyers and a court employee, have been named in the chargesheet.

The accused allegedly forged signature of judges and other court officials and used counterfeit court seals to create fake inheritance certificates. The scam was uncovered in November 2023, prompting the Panvel police to register a case and establish a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter.

Deepak Mohan Phad (32), a court employee, was the first to be arrested in the case on December 23. Further investigation led to the unearthing of the role of Adv. Amar Patwardhan, Adv. Yogesh Kelkar, Sunil Upadhyay, a property agent.

During questioning, it was discovered that Adv. Gauri Kelkar, sister of Yogesh Kelkar, had forged the judge’s signature on the fraudulent document.

Gauri Kelkar and Sunil Upadhyay were arrested on January 21. Currently, all five accused are lodged in the Taloja and Kalyan Aadharwadi jails.

The SIT took four months to complete the inquiry and file the chargesheet in the Panvel magisterial court.

During the inquiry into the fake inheritance certificate case, authorities discovered that Deepak Phad had also embezzled court funds by generating bogus challans, leading to the registration of three additional cases against him.