The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police that arrested two directors of real estate development company Nirmal Lifestyle for allegedly duping 34 home buyers of Rs 11 crore, have found that they had accepted Rs 80.93 crore from 461 flat buyers in four housing projects in Mulund (West), but never commenced construction on any of the projects, sources in EOW told The Indian Express.
EOW’s housing fraud unit–2 on Thursday arrested Dharmesh Jain, 55, and Rajiv Jain, 50, directors of Nirmal Lifestyle Ltd, for allegedly duping 34 flat buyers to the tune of Rs 11 crore. The two accused builders had taken money from home buyers in 2011 for flats in projects named Olympia, Omega, Panorama, and One Spirit in Mulund (West). The builders gave receipts, allotment letters and letters of intent to home buyers and assured them of delivering them their flats by December 2019.
During the investigation, EOW sleuths raided the company’s office on LBS Road, Mulund, and found a list of 461 home buyers of the said housing projects, from whom the developer had allegedly accepted Rs 80,93,98,803, EOW sources said.
When EOW made inquiries with the architect of these projects and also officials from construction work licence departments of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and Thane Municipal Corporation, it was established that the developer secured a commencement certificate from the department concerned but never began construction on the projects.
“The developer misused the money received for the projects by diverting it to their other companies and establishments,” an EOW probe has revealed.
EOW investigations have also revealed that the developer sold the flats to home buyers at rates much higher than market prices, but never signed an agreement with them. When the home buyers diligently followed up with the two directors of Nirmal Lifestyle Ltd, they were promised that their money would be returned, and post-dated cheques were issued to them. However, these cheques bounced due to insufficient funds in the account. The developer had also promised to deliver flats to home buyers in their other projects instead, but failed to do so, the EOW officer said.
The developer’s lawyers, however, claimed that when the flat purchasers invested money, a mutual understanding (MoU) was executed between the flat purchaser and the accused, and the accused acted upon on the said MoU, and repaid the amount owed to several purchasers. Moreover, several victims have filed complaints and then withdrawn applications at the police station as well as in court.
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An EOW officer said that from statements of home buyers, it was gathered that “many of them had spent their lifetime savings to buy their dream home. Some even sold their existing homes and invested in new homes promised by the developer”.
A case was registered against Nirmal Lifestyle Ltd on April 11, 2022, on the complaint of Sunil Krishnakumar Arora, a surgical equipment businessman and president of Nirmal Lifestyle Home Buyers Redressal Association. Besides Dharmesh Jain and Rajiv Jain, Rajiv’s wife Puja Jain and Chandrakant Hiralal Shah have also been named as accused in the case.
Investigators have frozen four bank accounts of the accused real estate developer company.
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“Dharmesh and Rajiv have been booked under sections 406, 420, 409, and 120B of the IPC and sections 3, 4 5, 8 and 13 of Maharashtra Ownership of Flats Act,” said inspector Sanjay Kate of the Housing unit-2.
Once known for its posh residential towers in Mulund, the developer is currently facing at least three FIRs and are being investigated by EOW. After the custody of the two developers is over in the current case, they will be arrested in the second case, EOW sources said. Mulund police, too, have cases filed against the developer and will seek their custody after EOW’s probe.
EOW sources said that after seeing police action, more victims of developer’s other incomplete projects are likely to come forward and lodge complaints.
