Enforcement Directorate files charge sheet against Mumbai builder for duping flat buyers of Rs 400 crore

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a charge sheet against a Mumbai realtor who was arrested for allegedly cheating hundreds of flat buyers of Rs 400 crore and diverting the money for personal use and money laundering, officials said here on Friday. The ED launched the probe against Lalit Tekchandani linked with Supreme Construction & Developers Pvt. Ltd. (SCDPL), and 15 other persons/entities following complaints lodged against them at the Chembur and Taloja police stations in Mumbai and Raigad, respectively.

The central investigating agency filed its charge sheet against the accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, before the special PMLA court here, which took cognisance of the same on Wednesday. The probe found that SCDPL and Tekchandani, along with others, allegedly collected huge funds to the tune of Rs 400 crore from home buyers for its upcoming project in Taloja.

However, after long delays, the prospective buyers did not get their promised home or refund of their money, leaving them in the lurch.

The ED probe found that Tekchandani, with the help of the other accused, misappropriated the properties of SCDPL though he had quit as the owner and director of the company. The accused also siphoned off the funds of the company into the accounts of associate entities, and committed other irregularities, leading to Tekchandani’s arrest on March 18. Presently he is in judicial custody. His custodial interrogation by the ED revealed that he had laundered the customers’ money for personal gains and for investing in assets in his name and that of other family members. After identifying the proceeds of the crime, ED slapped provisional attachment orders on movable and immovable properties worth Rs 113.5 crore. The ED also froze/seized other assets in the form of shares/bank deposits/mutual funds, etc., worth Rs 43 crore. Further probe is underway. (IANS)

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