E-Paper
{Multi-crore property scam} Facing 108 FIRs, kingpin sent to 6-day ED custody
The ED investigation revealed that the properties purchased by Neeraj were registered and bought through money collected from investors without providing them with land or refund.
Blurb: On the run for 9 years, he was arrested from Uttarakhand on April 9 by Faridkot and Fazilka police
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken main accused of the multi-crore Nature Heights Infra Ltd scam Neeraj Thatai in six-day custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The ED started investigation on the basis of 108 FIRs registered by Punjab Police under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Neeraj, his company Nature Heights Infra Limited, and others in police stations across the state.
“The accused had duped a large number of investors of their hard-earned money on the pretext of allotment of properties and thus committed the offence of money laundering,” an official said.
The ED investigation revealed that the properties purchased by Neeraj were registered and bought through money collected from investors without providing them with land or refund. Many bank accounts of Arora, his company Nature Heights Infra Limited and group companies had been credited with hard-earned money of investors, the ED said.
Neeraj, who was on the run for nine years, was on April 9 arrested in a joint operation by the Faridkot and Fazilka police from Pauri district of Uttarakhand.
He is facing 108 FIRs registered in 21 districts of Punjab for defrauding people by promising money for plots. Of the 108 FIRs, 47 were registered in Fazilka; eight in Ferozepur, six each in Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib; five each in Rupnagar and Mohali; four each in Faridkot, Muktsar and Jalandhar commissionerate.
Neeraj was arrested by Fazilka police in February 2016 too, but he jumped bail and was declared a proclaimed offender in February 2017.
Punjab Police claimed that he was using fake IDs to evade arrest. He owns 1,200 acres and 200 flats in Punjab and Madhya Pradesh worth more than ₹1,000 crore.
In 2020, the ED had attached assets worth ₹46 crore including bank balances and agriculture/commercial land located at various locations in Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The ED had already moved prosecution complaint in this regard on October 20, 2020.
The accused collected crores of rupees after luring investors by offering cheaper residential and commercial plots in prime locations in Chandigarh, Mohali, Zirakpur, Anandpur Sahib, Ferozepur, Talwara besides other towns of Punjab. One fine day, the company shut its offices and branches and the promoters went underground. Later, it surfaced that most of the colonies awaited government approval. The company neither allotted the plots nor returned the money, while the cheques it issued bounced.
