Patra Chawl case: ED attaches two immovable properties worth Rs 31.50 crore

ED logo. File Pic

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) provisionally attached two immovable properties totaling Rs. 31.50 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) in a case related to irregularities in the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl Project at Goregaon, Mumbai by M/s Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd., the officials said on Monday.

In the Patra Chawl case, the agency had arrested Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut last year, he was later granted bail by the court.

The officials said that the attached assets are in the form of lands held by Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan and Sarang Kumar Wadhawan, directors of Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd, Mumbai at Goa. The ED initiated an investigation under the provisions of PMLA, 2002 on the basis of an FIR registered by EOW, Mumbai against M/s Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd, Rakesh Kumar Wadhwan, Sarang Kumar Wadhwan, and others based on a complaint filed by the Executive Engineer, MHADA, Mumbai under various sections of the IPC.

The investigation under PMLA revealed that M/s Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd was entrusted with the redevelopment of Patra Chawl Project for the rehabilitation of 672 tenants, they said.

During the relevant time, Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan, Sarang Wadhwan, and others were the Directors of M/s Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd. A tripartite agreement was signed between society, MHADA, and M/s Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd. According to the agreement, the developer was to provide flats to 672 tenants, develop flats for MHADA, and thereafter sell the remaining area. The directors of M/s Guru Ashish Constructions misled MHADA and sold the FSI to nine developers and collected a net amount of approximately Rs. 901.79 crore without constructing the rehab portion for 672 displaced tenants and MHADA portion. Furthermore, M/s Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd launched a project named 'Meadows' and collected the booking from flat buyers worth around Rs. 138 crore. The total proceeds of crime generated by Directors of M/s Guru Ashish Constructions Pvt Ltd through illegal activities were approximately Rs. 1039.79 crore, the officials added.

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During the further course of investigation, it was revealed that Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan, after receiving the aforementioned proceeds of crime in bank accounts of HDIL and its group companies, further diverted these through bank accounts of HDIL and/or its group companies, namely GACPL, Sapphire Land Development Pvt Ltd, Satyam Realtors, etc., which finally reached the personal bank accounts of Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhwan after multiple layering, they said.

During the period of 2011-2016, POC of Rs. 38.5 crore from the account of Rakesh Wadhawan was utilized for pre-payments of the installments against an availed loan of Rs. 28.5 crore from India Bulls Housing Finance Ltd. The loan was availed at a floating interest of 18.5% for acquiring two plots of area of 1250 square meters and 15300 square meters in North Goa worth Rs. 31.50 crore during 2011. A payment of Rs. 2 crore was also made to the seller of the plots from the personal account of Sarang Wadhwan, officials further said.