ED raids DLF in its money laundering probe against Supertech

The ED stated in July that ₹638 crore collected from homebuyers and borrowed from the banks were diverted by Supertech Group and its chairman Ram Kishor Arora to buy properties in Gurugram at inflated prices instead of completing existing projects in Noida

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided DLF, a prominent real estate group in Gurugram, in connection with its money probe against another builder– Supertech Group, people familiar with the development said on Saturday.

(Representative Photo)

The searches, they said, ended on Saturday morning, during which documents have been examined by the ED officers. The agency, however, did not disclose the exact role of DLF in its Supertech probe.

Supertech’s chairman Ram Kishor Arora was arrested by the ED in June for allegedly cheating homebuyers and diverting money taken from investors and banks.

The agency had stated in July that ₹638 crore collected from homebuyers and borrowed from the banks were diverted by Supertech Group and its chairman Ram Kishor Arora to buy properties in Gurugram at inflated prices instead of completing existing projects in Noida.

“The total proceeds of crime estimated in the case, so far, comes to around ₹638.93 crore which was diverted by Supertech Group and its promoters/directors to their group companies for purchase of properties and the company with land having much lesser value. The funds diverted by the group had been collected from homebuyers and banks or financial institutions for use in specific projects. The diversion of funds by the accused companies and individuals led to a default on the part of the accused companies from banks or financial institutions,” ED said in its remand note in July, reviewed by HT.

Detailing the diversions, ED said ₹444 crore “from accumulated funds in its accounts which were directly from advance collections from customers and borrowed from banks” were paid by Supertech to buy a company – Sarv Realtors Private Limited in 2013-14.

Sarv was bought to purchase a 27.5-acre land parcel to launch another project without completing the ongoing projects for which the funds were originally meant, ED said.

Subsequently, ₹154 crore was credited by Supertech to another company, ASP Sarin, to purchase another land. ASP, termed a shell company by ED, had “no actual turnover or income”, ED said, adding that Supertech transferred ₹39 crore to Palash Building Solutions for payment to land sellers for land parcels in Delhi.

ED has alleged that Arora was also the “deciding authority” in diverting the funds to these companies. When asked about the siphoning off of funds during questioning, Arora gave “evasive replies” to the ED officers, they said.

“However, upon confronting him with the bank account statements of the companies and other accounts of Supertech Group, Arora admitted that the money is effectively homebuyer’s instalments,” ED added.

Calling him the prime conspirator of the fraud, ED said Arora cheated more than 600 homebuyers and “acquired, possessed, layered and utilised the proceeds of crime siphoned off from the ongoing projects gradually through various shell companies as identified during the investigation and corroborated by various financial documents.”