The directors of a construction company and their associates have been booked by the Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police for allegedly selling to a serving Air Force Wing Commander a non-existent flat in Greater Noida that was financed by the Life Insurance Corporation Housing Finance Limited (LIC HFL). The complainant has alleged that he was conned by one of his colleagues.
The case was registered on Friday pursuant to a court directive. In the criminal complaint filed in the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Saket, Shobhit Agrawal said that he had been running from pillar to post since March, meeting senior Delhi Police officers and writing to government authorities seeking intervention, but no action was taken as the accused seemed well connected.
Mr. Agrawal was posted at the Air Force Headquarters in July 2009 when Parag Jain, also a Wing Commander and a colleague of the complainant, shared with him an opportunity to buy a property as his uncles were coming up with a project named Shivkala Charms in Sector Pi-2 of Greater Noida.
The complainant alleged that Mr. Jain introduced him to his uncles, who showed him the project site. Although interested, Mr. Agrawal expressed his inability to raise the required amount, at which the accused assured that through his contacts in the LIC HFL, he would help him get a home loan. In September 2009, an LIC HFL area manager allegedly completed the formalities and sanctioned a loan of Rs.25 lakh to the complainant. It is alleged that the official and Mr. Jain also showed him papers of over 20 people who had filled out forms of the society and had also applied for home loan.
Mr. Agrawal was allotted a flat in Shivkala Charms with a promise of possession in 18 months. The complainant paid Rs.3 lakh in cash and the rest was paid from the loan amount, alleges the First Information Report.
The victim, who was paying a monthly instalment of Rs.22,325 against the loan, stopped the same in September 2011 when he did not get possession. Enquiries by him revealed that the project builders had allegedly cheated many people by making multiple allotments. Identical numbers of flats were purportedly allotted to different applicants.
According to the FIR, Mr. Agrawal went to the site on March 6 and discovered that the flat allotted to him existed only on papers. Alleging that hundreds of others were also cheated, he said when he tried to pursue the matter further, the builders allegedly threatened him with dire consequences. In the complaint, he alleged that among those cheated were also 20 of his colleagues.
Mr. Agrawal said he had decided to buy the flat believing it to be a genuine deal as LIC HFL was financing the project. The complainant alleged that LIC HFL and its officials have financed over 164 flats though there were only 140 flats sanctioned in the society of the builder. “It was the duty of the builder/LIC HFL to check the sanction of the building as it was financing the project. LIC HFL and its officials were not diligent enough to check the papers of the building and in order to give benefit to the builder, the accused sanctioned the loan,” alleged the FIR.
