Fake courtroom since 5 years in Gujarat: 5 times similar incidents happened in India

In a shocking recent incident, a conman named Morris Samuel Christian was caught running a fake courtroom from Gandhinagar since 2019. He created a pretend courtroom and hired co-conspirators to fool people involved in land-related conflicts, promising fast settlements for significant fees. Christian untruthfully stated he was selected as an official arbitrator by the government and released counterfeit orders.
This situation highlights a substantially growing problem in India, where people are being fooled by fraudsters running fake courtrooms, and police stations, and even pretending to be police officers. Massive amounts of the public are taken advantage of by these frauds, often losing a lot of money, while also facing legal troubles. Here, we’ll explore five similar incidents when unaware people became victims of such misleading practices.
Image credit: X/ @parthya

In Morbi, Gujarat, villagers built a fake toll plaza near the real one and collected about Rs 75 crore over 12 years. Led by local leaders, they charged lower fees, so drivers avoided the official toll. The police found out about the scam in December 2022 and are searching for the suspects. The villagers claimed to have used the money for local projects like temples and a cricket ground. After the fake plaza was closed, more cars started using the official toll, and collections went up.

A gang in Bihar ran a fake police station in a hotel for eight months, pretending to be police officers and scamming locals out of money. They charged people to file complaints and claimed to offer help with jobs and housing. They also paid locals ₹500 a day to play as other officers. The scam was exposed when a real police officer noticed two members with homemade guns instead of real ones. Six gang members, including two women, were arrested, but the leader is still missing. The investigation is ongoing, with more information expected soon.

A 59-year-old man from Bengaluru, K J Rao, lost ₹59 lakh in a scam that pretended to be a courtroom trial. He got an automated call saying his phone would be blocked and was then connected to someone pretending to be from the Mumbai crime branch, accusing him of money laundering. The scammers set up a fake courtroom on Skype and pressured Rao into transferring money. They kept him on the line for over 24 hours, not letting him ask for help.