EOW files 37,000-page chargesheet against Pune builder DSK and

Pune police's economic offences wing (EOW) today filed a 37,000-page chargesheet against city-based builder D S Kulkarni and his wife Hemanti on charges of committing a Rs 2043.18 crore fraud by collecting funds from investors on promise of good premium and duping them.

The total scam is worth Rs 2043.18 crore wherein the accused floated nine different firms tosiphonoff the funds collected from 33,000 investors and fixed-deposit holders who were promised good returns on their FDs, it said.

The chargesheet was filed in the court of special judge J T Utpat.

Of the total scam amount, the deposit and loan fraud is to the tune of Rs 1083.7 crore, banking and non-financial institutions-related fraud of Rs 711.36 crore, debentures fraud of Rs 111.35 crore and fraud related to Phursungi land purchase of Rs 136.77 crore, EOW officials said.

A senior police official said the role of some nationalised banks has also come under the scanner for sanctioning loans to the builder without following proper due diligence.

Kulkarni and his wife are accused of duping several investors over years.

According to a complaint filed with the EOW by one of the depositors, investors put in lakhs of rupees in a fixed-deposit scheme of the DSK Developers but they neither received the interest nor the principal amount.

The EoW had booked the couple under relevant sections of the Maharashtra Protection of interest of Depositors (MPID) Act along with sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 406 (Punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

The developer and his wife were arrested from Delhi on February 17 this year by Pune police.

Besides the couple, police arrested four more people including DSK's son-in-law and his wife.

According to prosecution, Kulkarni's firm collected over Rs 1,000 crore in the form of deposits and unsecured loans, which was "systematically" diverted in a "pre-planned" manner.