Directors of realty firm held for cheating buyers

Three directors of a real estate company were arrested by the economic offences wing (EOW) of Delhi Police on Thursday for allegedly cheating around 200 investors of over Rs 10 crore on the pretext of allotment of flats at Sonepat in Haryana.

Three directors of a real estate company were arrested by the economic offences wing (EOW) of Delhi Police on Thursday for allegedly cheating around 200 investors of over Rs 10 crore on the pretext of allotment of flats at Sonepat in Haryana.

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The real estate company offered flats at Sonepat with club, swimming pool and other facilities without having any valid licences or permission from the authorities to develop such a project. The arrested directors of the company have been identified as Ajay Kumar Singhal, 49, Pankaj Kapoor, 49, and Manoj Kumar Goyal, 43. While Kapoor has an MBA degree, the others are commerce graduates from Delhi University.

Sanjay Tyagi, additional deputy commissioner of police (EOW), said the accused, who had no previous experience in the construction business, started operating in December 2005 from a rented premise in Pitampura. “The accused cheated the public at large by offering attractive and lucrative schemes on the pretext of developing a township in the name of ‘Jindal Green’ in Sonepat. They have been collecting money from the victims since February 2006 on false promises. Later, they closed down their offices and disappeared,” said Tyagi.

The accused persons had promised to hand over the built flats with modern facilities within three years but construction at the said site never started. The victims ran from pillar to post and made every possible effort to recover their deposit amount but there was no one to give them a proper reply.

A case of cheating and criminal conspiracy was registered at EOW police station based on the complaint of Hari Om Goyal, one of the investors. Investigation into the case revealed that the company did not have any permission from the Haryana government for developing the promised township.

“When the investors applied for refund of their money, the accused refused to return it. Our investigation revealed the accused had purchased 13 acres of land in Sonepat using the ill-gotten money. We arrested the accused from Delhi and seized the documents pertaining to the purchased land,” said Tyagi.