Slain liquor baron Ponty Chadha's son Manpreet ‘Monty’ Singh Chadha was on Monday, 17 June, granted bail in connection with a real estate fraud case by Delhi’s Saket Court, ANI reported. Chadha has been granted bail on two surety bail bonds of Rs 50,000 each.
After being arrested at the IGI Airport in Delhi on Wednesday by the Economic Offence Wing of Delhi Police, Chadha was on Thursday remanded to judicial custody for 14 days by a court in Delhi in connection with the case.
He was produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Paras Dalal when the court rejected his bail application, saying thousands of investors were affected and only a few had approached the court.
Accused of Cheating and Not Providing Apartments to Buyers
He was appointed as the Vice-Chairman of the group in December 2012 after the death of his father, while his uncle, Rajinder Singh Chadha, was appointed the chairman.
The Delhi Police also arrested Director of Hi-tech Developers Pvt Ltd Uppal Chadha as well. The two have been accused of cheating and not providing apartments to the buyers.
As per the FIR accessed by The Quint, they are accused of not giving flat allocations in Ghaziabad and Noida within 8 months as promised.
They have been charged with sections 420, 406, 469, 471 and 1208 of the Indian Penal Code. The FIR said that since the launch of the project in 2006, the decision-makers have been "playing with the investor's hard earned money".
A look out notice had been issued against Manpreet Singh Chadha, Additional Commissioner of Police (Economic Offences Wing) Suvashis Choudhary said. Before arresting him, the airport's security staff and immigration officers were alerted, the officer said.
What Had Happened?
Chadha is the director of Uppal-Chadha Hi-tech Developers Private Limited.
29 victims have approached the police so far against the company alleging that it neither allotted the promised plots nor refunded their invested amount, the officer said.
They had booked plots between 2005-2006 and paid an amount of Rs 4.5 crore approximately, he said.
According to the complaint, the company had launched a project in 2006 at NH-24, Ghaziabad. In 2005, it lured buyers to book plots in their proposed Hi-tech Township Projects - Rosewood Enclave, Sunny Wood Enclave, Lime Wood Enclave and Crestwood Encalve in villages of Kachera, Dujana and Mehrauli at NH-24, Ghaziabad, the officer said.
The company showed brochures and layout plan for the proposed township of about 1,500 acres. Buyers were promised possession of plots within eight months from the date of allotment letters, the officer added.
The victim also received letters from the company in November 2009, assuring them that all necessary licences and approvals were obtained.
However, in June 2011, they received a demand letter signed by Vice-President of the company but the name of the firm, the township and the address of the company were changed and all payments were sought in the name of new entity "Wave city NH-24", Choudhary said.
Investigations revealed that the Uttar Pradesh government had announced Hi-Tech Township policy of 2003 and later on it was revised by the government in 2007 and 2008, the officer said.
In 2005, the company 'Uppal Chadha Hi-Tech Pvt. Ltd' had entered in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ghaziabad Development Authority for developing the project. The company then started taking bookings for plots from victims in 2005-2006 with an initial booking amount of Rs three-four lakh from each, the officer added.
However, the site plan was sanctioned only on 2 November 2013. Even after a gap of 15 years, the company neither provided plots to the buyers nor refunded their invested amount, the police said.
Controversial liquor and real estate baron Ponty Chadha and his younger brother Hardeep were killed in a shootout at their farmhouse in New Delhi in November 2012.
(With inputs from ANI.)
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