BENGALURU: In a major crackdown on builders allegedly involved in cheating and defrauding thousands of home-buyers, the CBI on Saturday conducted nationwide searches at 12 locations in Bengaluru, Kolkata and Mumbai after registering six cases against builders and officials of financial institutions for allegedly cheating and defrauding homebuyers, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) stated in an official release.
Some unknown officials of various financial institutions are also under the agency’s scanner. “Various incriminating documents and some digital electronic evidence have been seized during the ongoing searches,” stated the CBI spokesperson.
Four out of the six cases are to do with companies that are either registered in Bengaluru or have a project in the city.
According to the CBI, the six companies against which it has registered cases, three -- Ithaca Estate Pvt Ltd, LGCL Urban Homes (India) LLP and Ozone Urbana Infra Developers Pvt Ltd -- have registered offices in Bengaluru. At the same time, Shashwati Realty Pvt Ltd has a registered office in Mumbai and a project in Bengaluru. The other two -- MKHS Housing LLP is from Kolkata and Acme Realties Pvt Ltd is from Mumbai.
The development follows the apex court’s order in July, when it allowed the CBI to file 22 cases into these allegations.
Thousands had approached SC for relief
The allegations pertain to “unholy nexus” between builders/developers and financial institutions and the resultant fraud and harassment of home buyers in Delhi-NCR by them. These cases are “under active investigation”, added the CBI.
Giving a background of the six new cases registered in Bengaluru, Kolkata and Mumbai, the agency said, “Thousands of home-buyers, who on being cheated by the builders/developers and further aggrieved by the coercive action of financial institutions, had approached the Supreme Court. The court, while observing an ‘unholy nexus’ between the builders and the financial institutions in cheating the home-buyers by innovating and introducing the ‘subvention scheme’ of home loans, had directed CBI to register seven preliminary enquiries,” it said.
The CBI registered the preliminary enquiries and after completion of six of these, which were pertaining to builders in the National Capital Region, it submitted the status report before the Supreme Court. “On completion of the seventh inquiry, which was against various builders outside the NCR, the CBI submitted the status report before the Supreme Court. The court directed the CBI to register six regular cases against builders in Bengaluru, Kolkata and Mumbai and unknown officials of financial institutions,” said the CBI spokesperson.
A subvention scheme is a legal agreement made among the buyer, seller and the finance company, which provides the home loan. Under the scheme, the buyer doesn’t have to pay any amount as interest until the period of time, agreed and mentioned in the contract. Banks/financial institutions directly disburse loans to the builders, who are required to service the EMIs until the property is handed over to the buyer. But in many cases once the builders default, the heat is on home buyers from the financial institutions to repay the loan despite the fact that the builders have not handed them the flats. This has led to rampant harassment with aggrieved home buyers approaching the courts for relief.