No bail for man behind Rs 50 crore housing fraud

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sent out a strong message to builders who dupe gullible investors looking for dream homes at affordable prices.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sent out a strong message to builders who dupe gullible investors looking for dream homes at affordable prices. The HC denied bail to Chairman and Managing Director, Lakshmi Vatika Ltd, D K Aggarwal who has spent 16 months in jail for housing fraud.

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Aggarwal allegedly duped over 5,000 investors to the tune of Rs 50 crore by promising them houses in Dehradun, Mumbai, Mohali and Patna. Though he charged Rs 50,000 to Rs 7 lakh from investors, Aggarwal never had the land nor infrastructure.

He operated from a swanky office at Barakhamba Road, placed ads in English dailies and got a Bollywood actress to endorse 'housing projects'.

As per the complaint to the police, Aggarwal allegedly represented to the public that Vatika owned 100 acres of land in Dehradun for developing a dream project 'Drona City' but later it transpired they did not own even an inch of land there and even the Bhoomi Pujan ceremony was stage-managed. The case was probed by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police.