• Courier agent falsifies document and commits forgery of signature

Dear Sir/Madam,

My mother used the services of a courier-agency known as ABC Couriers to send a parcel containing clothes, children's toys and dry food (which was confirmed by the agent to be permissible for entry in the UK) to my address in the UK through DHL. The weight of the shipment at origin was determined to be 3.1 kg. The items were packed before my mother's eyes and she was asked to give a hand-written list of contents following which a receipt against the payment was given to her along with an assurance that the tracking number for the parcel would be given that evening over phone. 

When the parcel eventually arrived, all the food items were missing and what's more, there was a printed declaration of contents carrying a clearly forged signature of my mother. The airway bill number on the parcel indicated its weight to be 1.3 kg as opposed to 3.1 kg at origin. When I took the matter up with DHL and the agents themselves, I made it very clear that my complaint had two components, namely, (1) obtaining compensation for the lost items, the discrepancy in weight of shipment, related expenses such as phone calls made to the agents, photocopying and scanning documents to supply as evidence, and mental and physical distress caused especially to my aged and ailing mother as a result and (2) bringing to task the perpetrator who forged the signature. I am especially concerned about the potential of such instances of signature forgery with regards matters of greater gravity than mere theft of items such as illegal substance trafficking, which can land an innocent customer into no end of trouble.

It took me immense persistence and expending of time and energy to convince the courier company DTDC, indicated by DHL to undertake the first part of the transport of shipment, to agree a compensation. However, both DHL and DTDC declared to have no association with ABC Couriers, whom they termed as 'freelancers' - a claim that seemed scarcely believable to us. At any rate, DTDC shared the invoice for the parcel they are in possession of, which turned out to be nothing but a copy of the same printed contents-declaration containing a forged signature of my mother and the incomplete list of contents. When challenged on this point, ABC Couriers said such manipulation of signature was common practice after printing a contents declaration! 

Please note that they deliberately, as is now evident, misled my mother by asking for a hand-written declaration when DTDC has officially acknowledged that hand-written declarations are not acceptable for customs checks, so that they could make changes to the document and authorise it with a false signature. While my mother was not given a proof of her original contents declaration, I think from the fact that the shipment tariff indicated on the receipt given by ABC Couriers is demonstrably higher than 1.3 kg, which was the weight of shipment at destination, one can deduce that foul play was going on. Furthermore, as said, the signatures on the contents-declaration forms retained by DTDC and myself are clearly forged.

In view of these events, I wish to lodge a case regarding the forgery of signature, not with a view to elicit compensation, which is guaranteed in writing by DTDC anyway, but to punish whoever was responsible for this act. Could you please advise if we have enough grounds to do that and if successful, what type of punishment would be meted out to the criminal? Also how should we proceed to lodge a case of this nature?

Thanking you in anticipation.

Yours sincerely,
Shuvo Roy