PMLA court refuses bail to builder Vijay Machinder

A PMLA court denied bail to builder Vijay Machinder, linked to a fraud case involving UTI society flats and ₹400 crore in loans misused.

MUMBAI: A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Thursday rejected bail plea of city builder Vijay Machinder in connection with an Enforcement Directorate (ED) case for allegedly fraudulently promising 152 flats to UTI Employees Sai Samruddhi Cooperative Housing Society and availing fraudulent loans.

PMLA court refuses bail to builder Vijay Machinder

Machinder, the former director of realty firm Ornate Spaces Pvt Ltd, was arrested in January this year. The ED had launched a money laundering probe based on a case registered by Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in 2021. The Enforcement Case Information Report states that Machinder was involved in various fraudulent activities in the Oshiwara Real Estate Project, where he deliberately delayed construction, misused funds for personal gains and forged documents. The builder had applied for bail on the grounds that the investigation was complete, and trail will not begin anytime soon. In addition, his company had undergone liquidation, and ED had attached sufficient properties to satisfy the flat purchasers’ claims.

Machinder’s advocate argued that in the proceedings currently ongoing before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), a new developer has been appointed to take care of the stakeholders’ claims. The prosecution opposed the plea, submitting that the gravity of the offence does not go away even if a new developer is appointed, and gave a detailed account of the crime.

Special judge AC Daga rejected the builder’s bail plea on Thursday, observing that the alleged acts of Machinder could not be washed away because a new developer was appointed. “It is the accused who has availed huge loans and misused UTI Society letterhead for mortgage NOC, forged society resolution and misappropriated funds, diverted investments, layered loans, accumulating liabilities of approximately ₹400 crores as of 2020,” the court said.