Real Estate Mumbai
Mumbai Police's EOW Cracks Down on Housing Fraud: 2 Cases Uncovered Involving Rs 80 Crore
By GeoSquare News Desk · Published 2024-07-19
In a major crackdown on housing fraud, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police has registered two separate cases of cheating and breach of trust against builders and directors of real estate firms. The cases involve 143 flat buyers who were allegedly duped of nearly Rs 80 crore.
In the first case, Ashit Doshi and Manish Shah of Zeus Housing and Construction, along with other directors of the company, sold four flats at Zeus Residency project in Sion, Antop Hill, to a Mahim resident for Rs 67.50 lakh. They sold flats to 75 buyers in total, collecting Rs 66.80 crore from them between 2013 and 2024. However, the builders failed to complete the construction work within the stipulated time and allegedly misused the buyers’ money for personal gains, defrauding the buyers.
In the second case, Jitendra Bhrahmbhatt alias Jitubhai Borat, director of Sahajanand Enterprises and MNP Associates, has been charged with deceiving 68 flat buyers of Rs 13.05 crore. In May 2006, Bhrahmbhatt collected payments from a 46-year-old businessman from Andheri (West) and 68 other individuals for flats in Prathmesh Phase-4 project in Andheri (West). The builders accepted over 20 per cent of each flat’s total value and issued allotment letters but never registered the agreements. They breached the buyers’ trust by diverting the funds for personal gain, causing financial losses to the buyers.
The EOW has charged the builders and directors of the respective real estate firms with cheating, breach of trust, and violations under the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act. The police are gathering documents related to the sale of flats in both cases and are also reaching out to banks to obtain details of the accounts used by the builders to allegedly divert funds.
The cases highlight the need for stricter regulations and monitoring of the real estate sector to prevent such instances of fraud and protect the interests of buyers. The Maharashtra government has taken several steps in recent years to regulate the sector, including the implementation of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. However, more needs to be done to prevent such cases of fraud and ensure that buyers are safeguarded against unscrupulous builders.
Information
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) is a specialized agency of the Mumbai police that deals with cases of economic offences, including fraud, cheating, and breach of trust.
Zeus Housing and Construction, Sahajanand Enterprises, and MNP Associates are real estate firms involved in the construction of residential projects in Mumbai.