A shocking scam has emerged in Gandhinagar, where Morris Samuel Christian posed as a judge and operated a fake tribunal, deceiving numerous individuals involved in land disputes since 2019. His elaborate scheme included a mock courtroom and associates pretending to be court personnel, creating the illusion of a legitimate legal setting.
According to police, Christian, the mastermind of this deception, wielded a gavel to pass judgments in favor of clients within the confines of his fabricated office.
Christian targeted unsuspecting individuals, promising quick resolutions to their land disputes in exchange for significant fees. He assumed the role of a judge, exploiting the vulnerable and manipulating justice for personal gain. In one instance, he issued an order directing the district collector to add a client’s name to the revenue records of a government-owned land in the Paldi area.
Claiming to be appointed as the “official arbitrator” by the government, Christian initiated fake legal proceedings at his ‘court’ without any authority or order from a legitimate court under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act.
The scam unraveled when court registrar Hardik Desai discovered that Christian was not a legitimate arbitrator and that the tribunal’s order was fake. An FIR was filed against him under IPC sections 170 and 419, leading to his arrest for cheating by personation.
This isn’t Christian’s first encounter with the law; he is also facing a cheating complaint filed at the Maninagar police station in 2015.