Unitech MDs arrested by EOW for duping flat buyers

They are accused of swindling Rs 35 cr from those who booked flats at Greater Noida project

Woes of the erstwhile construction major Unitech just increased manifold, as its managing directors Sanjay Chandra and Ajay Chandra were arrested on Saturday by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police.

According to the sleuths of EOW, the Chandras have been accused of allegedly duping buyers who had booked flats in his Greater Noida residential project to the tune of Rs 35 crore. The buyers alleged that Unitech failed to complete the project on time and also did not refund the money along with the interest.

“There are allegations are that he fraudulently took the money from his clients and allegedly parked it in a shell company and then laundered it abroad,” said a senior police officer. “They were not having valid permissions from competent authorities before starting the project.”

Both of them will be produced before a Delhi court post 2 pm.

Unitech refrained from commenting on the issue. This is not Sanjay Chandra’s first brush with the law. Earlier he was also arrested by CBI in relation 2G case. Chandra had bid and won licence for telecom project which he later sold to Norway based company Telenor.

According to the police, there are around 91 cases registered against them. FIR was registered against them and they have been booked under section 406, 409 (breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 120 (b) (concealing criminal offence) of the Indian Penal Code.

Over two dozen home buyers of Unitech’s housing projects in Noida and Gurgaon had approached the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) after the builder had failed to give them possession of their flats as the per schedule. The company had promised to hand over the possession of flats in 2012, but failed to meet the deadline.

The consumer forum had asked Unitech to refund the money to the home buyers with interest.

On January 12, 2017, the Supreme Court directed that Rs 2 crore deposited by real estate major Unitech Resorts Ltd. with its registry be distributed among 39 home buyers who have sought refund of their amount for delay in handing over the possession of flats in the Vista housing project in Gurgaon.

Slapping a penalty on Unitech Resorts for delaying handing over of flats, the Supreme Court on February 20, 2017, directed it to deposit 14 percent interest on the Rs 16.55 crore invested by 39 home buyers with it.

Last month the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Chandigarh sentenced Unitech's chairman Ramesh Chandra and managing directors Ajay Chandra and Sanjay Chandra to a three-year jail term for not complying with the court's order.

The court has also issued non-bailable warrants against Unitech chairman and two MDs, along with charging a fine of Rs 10,000 each. In the last week of March, Supreme Court directed Unitech chairman and managing directors to be present in the court on May 5 in connection with a petition over a proposed scheme of compromise between the company and some home buyers in its projects.

The court also asked the builder to submit its final proposal for the completion of its pending projects.