• Uncle misusing all my grandmothers money

Hi All,

My grandmother is around 85 yrs old and totally bedridden with limited consciousness. She has a complex which brings in rents around 3lakhs per months into her account. One of my uncle joined himself into my grandma account stating reason she cant withdraw money since her signature is no longer matching. He does no work all day sitting idle and he is siphoning all her money for his personal uses without informing her. Since she is bedridden she is having zero control over her money.

Is there nothing we can do to protect her money?
Asked 4 years ago in Civil Law

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20 Answers

All other legal heirs along with signature /thumb of grandma on written letter ask to stop withdrawal in signature of your uncle's and require all other legal heirs permission or one of the other person from family as family manager or head or karta of the family. inform to Bank Manager along with all details.

Ganesh Kadam
Advocate, Pune
12995 Answers
263 Consultations

Your father can apply to court for being appointed as guardian of grand mother 

 

2) minion that uncle has fraudulently added his name to grand mother account , is siphoning of rentals received of Rs 3 lakhs per month 

 

3) request bank not to permit uncle to with draw funds from grand mother account without court orders 

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
97267 Answers
7856 Consultations

Complain the bank to freeze the account. Or file FIR that he cheatingly become joint account holder and now misappropriating amount from the account without her knowledge. Police will freeze the account than. 

Or file Civil suit in court and obtain injuction order from court to freeze the account.

Yogendra Singh Rajawat
Advocate, Jaipur
23005 Answers
31 Consultations

For the purpose first see the nature of the account either is either or survivor account , if so then an application from one of the joint account holder means from your grandmother is required to stop the transaction so take him into confidence and move the application or all the legal heir move an application to the competent court to be arrayed in the account as account holder.

Koshal Kumar Vatsa
Advocate, Gurgaon
2283 Answers
3 Consultations

1. Firstly you have to check whether grand mother has permitted him.duely to access her account and join the account. If the consent is obtained fraudulently a complaint before bank and police station can be filed against.uncle.

Shubham Jhajharia
Advocate, Ahmedabad
25514 Answers
179 Consultations

From examining all the facts of your query I want to say that-

I can understand your concern in this regard. These cases are very common in various Courts of India and Supreme Court of India. Your uncle has fraudulently trying to gain advantage your grandmother who is around 85 years old and is bedridden. With a view to enabling the old/sick/incapacitated account holders to operate their bank accounts, banks may follow the procedure as under:-

  1. Wherever thumb or toe impression of the sick/old/incapacitated account holder is obtained, it should be identified by two independent witnesses known to the bank, one of whom should be a responsible bank official
  2. Where the customer cannot even put his/her thumb impression and also would not be able to be physically present in the bank, a mark can be obtained on the cheque/withdrawal form which should be identified by two independent witnesses, one of who should be a responsible bank official.

Please understand that according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rules old/sick/incapacitated account holders can use thumb or toe impression in such cases. Bankers customarily extend helping hand to the disabled persons like sick/old/incapacitate who cannot be physically present to the bank, by offering special service to them. The Reserve Bank of India is India's central bank, which controls the issue and supply of the Indian rupee. RBI is the regulator of the entire Banking in India. RBI plays an important part in the Development Strategy of the Government of India. 

You have following options:

  1. You as a legal heir can write appropriate application to the bank to immediately strike down the name of your Uncle in such circumstances. In case the bank does not take action on your application then you can approach Banking Ombudsman in Hyderabad. You can also contact them online or via telephone numbers provided on the website due to Covid-19 crises. Banking Ombudsman is a senior official appointed by the Reserve Bank of India to redress customer complaints against deficiency in certain banking services covered under the grounds of complaint specified under Clause 8 of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme 2006.
  2. You can file a police complaint in the nearest police station in Hyderabad. Complainants who have access to the internet could file online complaints if their State or city provides such a service. In order to do so, the complainant must access the website and follow the steps as shown on the website. Currently, filing an online complaint is the safest and most convenient method of reporting an offence. Using online portals for filing complaints or an FIR is easy in during Covid-19 crises. The options on the websites are easy to understand as well. A copy of the FIR would be sent to the email address provided by the complainant. Therefore, the complainant should make sure to give a working email address and/or their Whatsapp contact when filing a complaint. More than half of the Indian population has access to telephones and mobile phones. Even if someone does not have access to either of them, someone in their vicinity might have. If someone has to report a matter during the lockdown, they could dial 100 and call the police. It is legal to file a complaint on a telephonic conversation. 
  3. Legal Notice through Advocate can be sent to your Uncle. A legal notice is, therefore, a formal communication to a person or an entity, informing the other party of your intention to undertake legal proceedings against them. This notice, when sent, conveys your intention before the legal proceedings and thus, makes the party aware of your grievance. Many times, a legal notice served will bring the other party on heels, and the problem can get resolved out of court too, with fruitful discussions on both sides. And, if the other party is still not heeding to the grievance, one can always start the court proceedings after a particular interval, as stated by the law. Although a legal notice can serve as a purpose of negotiations between the parties and save time, effort and money that are usually spent in court cases.

 

You may contact my secretary to connect with me for clarification.

I hope you and your family are safe and healthy. Stay home and be safe during Covid-19.

 

Gopal Verma,

Advocate on Record & Amicus Curiae,

Supreme Court of India

Shri Gopal Verma
Advocate, Delhi
400 Answers
13 Consultations

Hi 

The legal options available to you are as follows:

1) Approach the District Collector and ask for appointment of Guardian under section 14 of the National Trust Act, the Local Level Committee headed by the District Collector is empowered to receive application in Form A under Rule 16(1) & appoint guardians in Form B under Rule 16(2) for persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation & Multiple Disabilities 

or

2) Approach the Courts and ask for appointment of Guardian under Guardians and Wards Act. 

Under both the options, court will appoint an administrator to monitor the finances of aged persons with direct collector/ Court supervision.

Hope this information is useful. 

Rajgopalan Sripathi
Advocate, Hyderabad
2173 Answers
394 Consultations

File a partition suit for that complex and get that divided and than get the rent divided and take good care of your grandmother 

Rahul Jatain
Advocate, Rohtak
5365 Answers
4 Consultations

Yes, definitely you can do.

Report the matter to Police in writing expressly against you uncle for unlawful withdrawal of money from the account of your grandmother. 

The Police may register FIR for cognizable offenses against your uncle for unlawful conduct and withdrawal of amount from your grandmother' s account and your uncle may be charged with 420 and 406 of IPC.

Police would definitely succeed and recover the amount misused by your uncle. 

To initiate the law into motion you have to approach Police Station first under whose jurisdiction you and your grandmother reside or the Bank is situated. 

Ramesh Pandey
Advocate, Mumbai
2541 Answers
8 Consultations

DEAR SIR/MADAM,

You can restrain the uncle by giving first the legal notice and then by way of the injunction suit. 

Ganesh Singh
Advocate, New Delhi
6769 Answers
16 Consultations

Since she is alive her other children have no share in her income and hence they can not intervene. 

However they must tell their mother about this crime and ask her to remove her son's name from the account. 

If she is willing she can give POA to another child to look after her affairs properly. 

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
23288 Answers
519 Consultations

Yes you can first inform bank and state the present conditions and remove him from the said account. If not done approach court or police for the same

Prashant Nayak
Advocate, Mumbai
32693 Answers
208 Consultations

You can file a suit seeking injunction, as, your uncle holds joint account in mutual trust.You can seek detail consultancy in this regard.

Rajinder Goyal
Advocate, Chandigarh
111 Answers
1 Consultation

1. It is your grandmother who has added your Uncle with her account for operating it.

 

2. Only your grandmother can stop his ill spending her money 

 

3. Only after her demise, you can file a partition suit along with  a  petition praying for an order for freexing her account till  the partition suit is disposed of.

Krishna Kishore Ganguly
Advocate, Kolkata
27500 Answers
726 Consultations

- Lodge a complaint against uncle on behalf of your grandmother in the bank  , after stating the reasons as you mentioned above ,and further request to freeze the account in the absence of consenting affidavit of other family members/legal heirs of your grandmother. 

- Further , You can also approach court for the fate of her account and to decide the guardian of her . 

Mohammed Shahzad
Advocate, Delhi
14651 Answers
224 Consultations

Even though your grandmother is bedridden, she can take the help of other children to tide over this problem.

If she is not of sound mental health, then either your mother or her other children can file a case before court to appoint a court guardian to take care of your grandmother's properties  by establishing the fact of her mental illness by producing the relevant medical certificates before court and also can seek an order of injunction against the uncle restraining him from collecting the rental amount in the joint account and the same should be on her own account managed by the court appointed guardian. 

You consult an advocate in the local and file a suitable case under guardian and wards act. 

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
87469 Answers
2348 Consultations

The firat question is who are you? I mean are you her only guardian. If not then there is a provision in the law where you may give an application to the magistrate for appointment of a guardian to manage her property collect rent and look after her.

Rahul Mishra
Advocate, Lucknow
14107 Answers
65 Consultations

if your uncle accessing without permission of your grand mother then you can file police complaint against him. 

Mohammed Mujeeb
Advocate, Hyderabad
19326 Answers
32 Consultations

Is your father alive? If yes, he may file a suit for declaration of guardianship of the person and property of his mother in order to manage her assets.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30780 Answers
973 Consultations

You can make an application in bank that name of your uncle was joined in bank account of your grandmother with fraudulent intentions because she doesn't have consciousness at time of joining him in account. 

Mohit Kapoor
Advocate, Rohtak
10687 Answers
7 Consultations

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