The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Mumbai has provisionally attached immovable properties under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, attaching assets of builder Vijay Machinder, Director of M/s Ornate Spaces Pvt. Ltd., and his family members in a money laundering case. The attached assets are in the form of immovable properties, consisting of various flats worth Rs. 7.04 Crore located in Mumbai, belonging to Vijay Machinder and his family members.
The ED investigation
ED initiated investigation on the basis of FIR registered by Oshiwara Police Station against Vijay Machinder, wherein it has been alleged that Vijay Machinder, during the year 2012 to 2019, has misappropriated the funds collected on account of accepting flat booking amounts in Oshiwara Project and by doing so defrauded various buyers to the tune of Rs.74 Crore by unjustly breaching the trust.
The ED's investigation revealed that M/s Ornate Spaces Pvt. Ltd. had executed a development agreement in 2010 for the development of a plot originally allotted to employees of United Trust of India by MHADA. Subsequently, Vijay Machinder started taking advance flat bookings and loans from financial institutions against the saleable area of the Oshiwara Project since 2012. Multiple flat buyers had paid advances for flat bookings in the Oshiwara Project, totaling approximately Rs. 93.44 Crore.
Additionally, Vijay Machinder had availed several loans to the tune of Rs.710 Crore out of which principal amount of approx..Rs.470 Crore is outstanding. However, construction work of the Oshiwara project has not commenced except excavation work.
ED arrested Vijay Machinder on January 03 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, for his role in defrauding and cheating flat buyers of the Oshiwara Project. He remains in judicial custody.
