BENGALURU: A Bengaluru-based real estate developer allegedly cheated banks of several crores of rupees by selling flats to 12 fictitious buyers at highly inflated valuations and facilitating housing loans through a builder-banker-borrower-broker nexus in its residential project, Pristine Vara, on Infantry Road. Meanwhile, the State Bank of India (SBI) has filed two separate complaints against borrowers and the developer, alleging that they cheated the bank of crores of rupees.
According to documents accessed by TNIE, Rajarajeshware Builddcon Private Limited developed 20 flats under a joint development agreement with the property owners. Of these, 12 flats were allegedly sold to fictitious buyers, who obtained housing loans from various financial institutions based on inflated property valuations ranging from Rs 6 crore to Rs 10 crore.
The developer allegedly mortgaged the flats with a New Delhi-based non-banking financial company (NBFC). Subsequently, the same properties were allegedly sold to other buyers and used to secure additional housing loans without clearing the existing mortgages, resulting in multiple financial claims over the same properties.
The alleged fraud involved a network of brokers who were paid substantial commissions to bring in fictitious buyers. The money was allegedly routed through the builder’s shell company, Rajshri Packagers Unit IV Limited.
Meanwhile, the SBI’s Retail Assets Credit Processing Centre (RACPC), Banaswadi branch, filed a complaint with the KG Halli police in August, alleging that a borrower, Sunil Raj Christopher, and Mitesh Kumar, director of the company, cheated the bank of Rs 4.88 crore by submitting documents containing discrepancies to secure a housing loan.
In another complaint filed with the Shankarpura police, the SBI’s RACPC Shankarpura branch alleged that the real estate firm cheated the bank of Rs 5.55 crore by availing themselves of a housing loan to purchase a flat. Speaking to TNIE, BN Vishwanath, one of the victims, said the total amount siphoned off through the builder-banker-borrower-broker nexus in the project was estimated at nearly Rs 70 crore.
