Ahmedabad: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Ahmedabad zonal office, provisionally attached land worth Rs 129.8 crore at Chharodi and other areas in periphery of Ahmedabad city in connection with a real estate fraud case registered under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.The order was issued on Aug 14 in case of Ronak Sonani, Vipul Gangani, M/s Keshav Narayan Group and others for “real estate fraud committed against homebuyers and investors in Ahmedabad,” according to a statement issued by the agency.ED initiated the investigation on basis of five FIRs registered with city crime branch, and police stations like Satellite, Navrangpura and Bopal.“ED investigation revealed that the accused persons cheated ordinary homebuyers, small investors, traders and middle-class families. They projected their real estate schemes as genuine projects. They offered flats and shops at attractive pre-launch prices. They also promised assured returns ranging from 54% to 100%,” the ED stated.The projects, however, lacked approvals, including NA permission and RERA registration, according to the agency. “In the Chharodi scheme, money was collected from 250 buyers/investors. In the Akshar Anant scheme, money was collected from more than 44 buyers/investors. The promised flats and shops were not delivered. The money collected from buyers was also not refunded,” added the release.While the buyers were told that the project’s permissions were under process, the land meant for project was sold or transferred to other buyers. In another project at Shela, the accused used the same modus operandi and the buyers were left stranded.“It is found that accused transferred properties to third parties through dummy sale deeds without genuine payment. Fictitious payment details were shown in registered documents to make the transactions appear legal,” ED stated in the release.The ED thus attached properties representing proceeds of crime at Chharodi, Shela, Jesangpura and Agol near Kadi. According to the release, the attachment was made to stop further sale, transfer or concealment of these properties.ED advised homebuyers and investors to verify RERA registration, statutory approvals, title documents, land records and encumbrance details before making payment.
