Builder, wife charged with cheating buyers of ₹28 cr in Oshiwara project

Vijay Machhindar and his wife Komal Machhindar allegedly collected money from homebuyers and investors from 2012, promising them possession of flats by 2017-18. However, the project remains incomplete, and the buyers were allegedly neither given possession nor refunded their money

MUMBAI: A special Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) court on Monday framed charges against the directors of real estate firm Ornate Spaces Pvt Ltd for allegedly cheating homebuyers and investors of around ₹28 crore in connection with its unfinished Grove Tower project in Oshiwara.

Special judge Vikram R Jagdale charged the couple with cheating investors, dishonestly misappropriating purchasers’ money, forgery, and fraudulent default against flat purchasers. (Shutterstock)

The accused, Vijay Machhindar and his wife Komal Machhindar, allegedly collected money from homebuyers and investors from 2012, promising them possession of flats by 2017-18. However, the project remains incomplete, and the buyers were allegedly neither given possession nor refunded their money.

Special judge Vikram R Jagdale charged the couple with cheating investors, dishonestly misappropriating purchasers’ money, forgery, and fraudulent default against flat purchasers. They also face charges under the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act (MOFA) for allegedly failing to register agreements for sale, disclose the project’s title and approvals, provide sanctioned plans and properly use the money collected from buyers. The company has also been charged with cheating. The framing of charges clears the way for the trial to begin.

The couple has also been accused of forging a general body meeting resolution on the letterhead of the housing society and using it to obtain a loan from PNB Housing Finance.

As promoters of the project, the Machhindars allegedly collected advances and deposits without executing and registering agreements for sale. They also allegedly failed to disclose the project’s title, approvals and sanctioned plans, did not hand over possession and misused the money collected from buyers.

The charges further allege that they made false promises of assured returns, timely possession, valid approvals and financial security. Their alleged default, which caused losses to depositors, has also attracted provisions allowing authorities to attach and recover properties bought with or from the deposits, the charges state.

The case stems from an investigation by the Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing, following an FIR registered at the Oshiwara police station in 2021.

Grove Tower is also the subject of a separate money-laundering investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Vijay Machhindar was arrested by the agency in January 2024 for allegedly collecting around ₹93.44 crore from flat buyers while obtaining loans totalling around ₹710 crore, of which around ₹470 crore remained outstanding. The ED had said construction of the Oshiwara project had not begun beyond excavation.

In January 2024, while hearing Machhindar’s challenge to his arrest, the Bombay High Court recorded allegations that an investor had been induced to purchase flats after being assured that the project would be completed within three years and would generate substantial returns. The investor had booked 14 flats and paid ₹15.6 crore between April 2012 and February 2019, according to the court record.

The ED had also alleged that Machhindar raised around ₹70 crore through allotment letters covering about 70,000 sq ft for 34 purchasers. Seven of the 14 flats booked by the investor were subsequently sold to third parties, the agency claimed.