Mumbai News: Santacruz Police File Case Against Directors Of 3 Real Estate Companies For Cheating Homebuyer

Santacruz police have filed a case against the directors of three real estate companies – Snehanjali & SB Developers, Bhalchandra Trending Private Limited and Hive Carbon-Zero Developers – for allegedly cheating a homebuyer.

According to the FIR, Mahendra Bhat, a resident of Versova, Andheri (West), booked a flat with Snehanjali & SB Developers and Bhalchandra Trending Private Limited (sister companies) in 2014.

Mahendra booked a flat in Sion-Chunabhatti project and the developers informed him that if he paid the full amount upfront, he would receive a discount. Mahendra agreed and paid over Rs 1 crore. That same year, the developer issued an allotment letter to Mahendra for a bigger flat, for which Mahendra gave a cheque for Rs 72.59 lakh.

Developers tell homebuyer the flat could not be provided

In 2017, the developers informed Mahendra that they could not provide the flat that he had booked and suggested he consider another flat in the same project. Mahendra agreed and paid an additional Rs 4,05,080 via cheque, receiving receipts for the transaction.

In July 2018, Mahendra died without receiving the flat. The next year his son, Prashant, discovered that the developers had already sold his father’s flat to another individual. Prashant promptly filed a complaint with the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA).

However, in October 2019, Hive Carbon- Zero Developers Private Limited acquired Snehanjali and Bhalchandra. The complainant alleged that the directors of Hive Carbon-Zero were aware of the flat transactions, holding the new company’s directors accountable.

Case filed against directors at Santacruz station

Prashant filed a case against the directors of all three companies at Santacruz station. The accused were identified as Jagdish Ahuja, Gautam Ahuja, Chandrahas Kotian, Ashok Gacheria, Jia Vei and other board members of the companies.

Prashant’s advocate, Prakkash Rohira, said, “Our [civil] complaint was pending with MahaRERA for over a year. The developers not only sold my client’s booked flat to another individual but also mortgaged the entire project to a bank and subsequently secured funds from that bank.”