New hard drive unearthed by police shows conmen built many more illegal buildings in the region than previously understood; data sent to Kalina for forensic analysis
Prashant Patil, the mastermind of the housing scam
The authorities fear more than 350 buildings in Vasai-Virar and Nalasopara could have been set up by the brains behind the house-of-cards scam as data related to dozens of illegal properties has been recovered from a two-terabyte hard disk seized from the alleged mastermind Prashant Patil and his gang. The device was found to contain more than 20,000 folders, according to sources. The cops now reckon the scale of the scam could be a whopping Rs 9,000 crore.
After the preliminary investigation into the scam was carried out, the authorities learnt that the accused had erected 55 residential societies in the area under the jurisdiction of the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) using forged documents and sold flats to 3,500 families.
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The Virar police, after scanning the hard disk, have found around 80 files pertaining to buildings that were set up by the accused with the help of forged documents and fake completion certificates (CC). As the scamsters would construct two or three buildings using a single CC and set of fake documents, the cops suspect that they are ultimately responsible for a whopping 350 illegal buildings mushrooming in Vasai and Virar.
Shree Gurukrupa Apartments, one of the buildings built illegally in Vasai-Virar. Pics/Hanif Patel
The Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar (MBVV) police have ordered that a single FIR be registered in every police station concerned and that the matter be investigated jointly. So far, the VVCMC has verified that 35 of the 55 buildings that were unearthed initially are indeed illegal and has informed local police stations to register FIRs.
Speaking with mid-day, Suhash Bawche, DCP, said, “In a raid, a 2TB hard disk was seized from the gang. We have copied the data and sent the original to the Kalina Forensic Laboratory for analysis. We found out that the accused constructed two to three buildings using a single fake commencement certificate and set of forged documents. We suspect that the accused constructed more than 350 buildings across Vasai-Virar.”
A police source told mid-day, “Patil and his gang had been running the scam since 2012. In the seized hard disk. We found more than 20,000 folders. In some, there were fake CC and forged documents while in others building files were found.” The police found that the accused forged around 10 architects’ signatures and also forged two advocates’ letterheads for CC and agreements.
On Friday morning, MahaRERA officials visited the Virar police station in connection with the scam. The Virar police asked the officials how permissions were granted to these societies. The latter replied that they didn’t verify any documents.
The MahaRERA clerks at the Virar police station on Friday morning. Pic/Hanif Patel
Senior Inspector Rajendra Kamble of Virar police station said, “We called the MahaRERA officers for the investigation and two clerk-level officials arrived at the Virar police station. We asked them about the procedure of registering projects and also asked how they gave permission to these 55 Illegal buildings. They told us that they received files via their portal online and they checked all the documents and gave permission. They didn’t verify any documents with any municipal corporation and blindly gave permission.”
“We gave all the case-related documents to the MahaRERA for their information and also instructed officials to come to the police station to record their statements. We need to record the statements of senior-level officials,” he added. When mid-day spoke to one of the MahaRERA officials who arrived at the police station, he said, “We came here to collect the information about the case to submit to our superiors.”
Rs 9,000cr
Potential scale of housing scam
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