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Punjab: ED hands over ₹50-cr seized assets of realty firm to banks
PMLA court orders return of properties belonging to Neeraj Thatai, who faces 108 FIRs for duping investors across Punjab.
In a move aimed at compensating banks in a real estate fraud case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday handed over six seized immovable properties to the State Bank of Patiala and Catholic Syrian Bank.
While the sale deeds value these assets at ₹20.21 crore, their current market value is pegged at ₹50 crore.
The transfer was carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), following an order by a special court in Mohali.
The properties, primarily commercial sites in Fatehgarh Sahib district, were attached during an investigation into Neeraj Thatai, alias Neeraj Arora. Thatai, the promoter of Nature Heights Infra Ltd, is accused of orchestrating a major real estate scam.
The ED’s investigation followed the registration of 108 FIRs by Punjab Police. Thatai allegedly lured investors with promises of cheap residential and commercial plots in prime locations, including Chandigarh, Mohali, Zirakpur, and Anandpur Sahib.
“The accused duped investors of their hard-earned money on the pretext of property allotment. The funds were used to purchase personal assets without providing land or refunds,” the ED found. Most colonies lacked government approval, and when the scam surfaced, the company shut its offices and the promoters went underground.
Thatai, who had been on the run for nine years and was declared a proclaimed offender in 2017, was arrested in April 2024. A joint operation by the Faridkot and Fazilka police tracked him to Uttarakhand’s Pauri district, where he was living under fake identities to evade arrest.
Though first arrested in 2016, he jumped bail and disappeared. Police estimates suggest Thatai owns nearly 1,200 acres and 200 flats across Punjab and Madhya Pradesh, valued at over ₹1,000 crore.
In 2020, the ED had attached assets worth ₹46 crore, including bank balances and land in Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. Prosecution complaints were filed in October 2020 and December 2024. Thatai is currently in judicial custody.
Of the 108 FIRs registered against him across 21 districts, the highest number, 47, are in Fazilka, followed by Ferozepur, Patiala, and Fatehgarh Sahib.
