Following a complaint by the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA), a father-son builder duo has been booked for alleged financial irregularities amounting to a whopping Rs144 crore, including Rs66.43 crore amount siphoned off from bank loans. Based on the real estate regulator's complaint, a case was registered at the Khar police station on February 23. Subsequently, the Economic Offences Wing took over the reins of investigation.
Details of FIR
According to the FIR, father Kumar Kanhaiyalal Mordani and his son Kanhaiya Kumar, who are the directors of M/s Paramveer Developers, flouted several MahaRERA norms. In January 2023, the authority had sent a non-compliance letter to the said firm followed by a second letter the next month. However, the accused didn't pay heed. Consequently, MahaRERA launched a third-party forensic audit that ultimately revealed the alleged financial irregularities.
The audit revealed that the developer collected Rs19.82 crore from customers, which they did not credit to the project accounts as per the rules. Instead, they credited it to the company's regular current account. A portion of this amount was also diverted to other subsidiary firms without a proper agreement. The accused had taken a Rs202 crore loan from bank and financial institutes. They slyly diverted Rs66.43 crore to their other companies, found the audit.
MahaRERA's complaint
As per MahaRERA complaint, suspicious transactions were also found in M/s Paramveer Developers' High Street project sprawling 6,525 sqft plot in Khar. Citing an instance of the irregularities, the authority said that the amounts returned to the buyers, who cancelled the deals, exceeded what they paid. Similar was the case in the Kurla project wherein many transactions and registrations did not match.
The developer has not submitted any progress report to MahaRERA since 2017, added the complaint. It further said that despite claiming to complete the High Street's construction by 2022, just 30% of the work has been completed, so far. As per MahaRERA rules, the developer should only take 70% of the amount from buyers if the building is an RCC structure. By taking full payment, the accused flouted this norm as well. Hence, indulging in financial misdeed worth Rs78.04 crore.
Both the accused and their firm has been booked under the Indian Penal Code sections 34 (common intention), 406 (breach of trust), 409 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating and dishonesty).
