Executor of last will apprehended

Cheating and absconding beneficiaries

Suspect, John Eric De Costa, who was an executor of a last will and arrested by the Fraud Bureau over the allegations of fraudulently defrauding beneficiaries to the tune of Rs. 23 million, was ordered to be remanded till October 20 by Colombo additional Magistrate Dulani Amarasinghe.

According to the prosecution, the suspect was appointed as the executor of the Last Will of late Hector Lorensz De Witt (who died on 04-09-2007) and was directed to distribute the sale proceeds of the estate of late Hector Lorensz De Witt among the beneficiaries named in his last will.

However, John Eric De Costa cheated and misappropriated the sale proceeds of the estate and furnished a fraudulent bank statement to the beneficiaries and misled them.

In March 2015, complaints were lodged by the beneficiaries and other family members at the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau against John Eric De Costa over the allegations of submitting

The suspect was appointed as the executor of the Last Will of late Hector Lorensz De Witt (who died on 04-09-2007) and was directed to distribute the sale proceeds of the estate

fraudulent account statements, cheating and misappropriation approximately Rs. 23 million. After one and a half years of absconding the Prosecution, the suspect was finally arrested on 07-10-2016 and was produced before the Colombo Magistrate in cases 31393/06/15, 35723/06/15, 57801/06/16 and 57802/06/16. Mr. Asela Rakawa Attorney at Law appeared for the complainants. Furthermore, Eric De Costa has an allegation under contempt of court in a testamentary case (DTS 260/09) at the District Court of Colombo in connection with late Hector Lorensz De Witt which is still going on.