New Delhi: Delhi Police has said that they arrested a Noida-based builder, Satinder Singh Bhasin, on charges of fraudulently selling properties in the city to several persons by setting up shell companies and collecting booking amounts with the promise of delivering 10,000 sqft bungalows. Based on a complaint registered by a Delhi philanthropist, Bhasin and his brother planned a project to build bungalows on a 1,00,980 sqmt plot of land, claiming it had been allotted to them by the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA), police said.
According to the police, the complainant had arranged a meeting with the accused persons on April 30, 2013 to invest in the project, during which the Bhasin brothers pitched a bungalow costing Rs 7.9 crore to the complainant and her husband. After looking through several site plans, detailed security arrangements, and relevant documents issued by NOIDA, the couple agreed to purchase the bungalow at a booking amount of Rs 1 crore, which was promised to be delivered in three years.
The complainant, in her complaint, asked as to why the NOIDA documents were issued to one M/s Anand Infoedge Pvt Ltd, instead of Mist Avenue Private Limited, she was told that it was a company operated and directed by the accused for mainly marketing and advertising purposes. The complainant added that the accused entities used these approvals to advertise the project extensively. She was directed to transfer the booking amount to M/s Mist Avenue Pvt. Ltd. On the assurance that it was a sister concern of Anand Infoedge. In the following three to four months, the complainant transferred a total of Rs 3 crores in addition to the initial booking amount.
The complainant noted that when she went to meet with Bhasin regarding the issuance of buyer's agreement and allotment letter, she and her husband were turned away from the site office. Persistent efforts led to a meeting with Bhasin and his brother, where they demanded an additional Rs 50 lakh in cash, without which they would not issue buyer's agreement and other relevant documents.
After repeated requests, a false allotment letter was issued to the complainant where the plot number was wrong and under another shell company operated by the accused. Bhasin claimed that both plots had building permits for the bungalow. The complainant later discovered through Mist Avenue Pvt Ltd balance sheets that Bhasin had transferred hundreds of crores rupees to shell companies operated by him.