Delhi court takes cognisance of Supertech charge sheet

Delhi court takes cognisance of ED charge sheet against Supertech chairman RK Arora in money laundering case; sufficient evidence available.

A Delhi court on Tuesday took cognisance of a charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Supertech chairman RK Arora in connection with a money laundering case, observing that prima facie, sufficient evidence is available against him.

The federal anti-money laundering agency initiated a probe against the Supertech Group of Companies based on 26 first information reports (FIRs) filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi, Haryana, and the Uttar Pradesh Police for allegedly cheating 670 homebuyers of an amount of ₹164 crore. (HT Archive)

“I am of the considered opinion that there is prima facie sufficient incriminating evidence about the commission of offence as defined under Section 3 (offence of money laundering) read with Section 70 (offences by companies) and punishable under Section 4 (punishment for money laundering) of the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002),” additional sessions judge Devender Kumar Jangala said in his order.

On August 24, ED filed a 100-page charge sheet against Arora and nine other accused — Neha Talreja, M/s Supertech Ltd, M/s Sarv Realtors Pvt Ltd, M/s ASP Sarin Realty Pvt Ltd, M/s Palash Building Solutions Pvt Ltd, Goodtime Builders Pvt Ltd, M/s Daamodar Build engineers Pvt Ltd., Doon Valley Technopolis Pvt Ltd, and the RK Arora family trust.

The court has listed the matter for October 30, when all the accused will appear before the court.

The federal anti-money laundering agency initiated a probe against the Supertech Group of Companies based on 26 first information reports (FIRs) filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi, Haryana, and the Uttar Pradesh Police for allegedly cheating 670 homebuyers of an amount of ₹164 crore.

The ED investigation also revealed that the Supertech Group defaulted its payment to banks and financial institutions, resulting in loans worth ₹1500 crore turning into non-performing assets (NPAs).

Arora was arrested by ED on June 27, and was initially sent to 12 days’ ED custody, and was sent to judicial custody on July 10. His bail application in the case was dismissed by the court on July 22.

Last week, the Delhi high court dismissed his application seeking supply of a copy of the grounds of arrest. He also moved a default bail application before the sessions judge on September 25, which has been listed for hearing on October 4.