Arrested builder Pujit Aggarwal has claimed that repeated changes in building plans led to IDBI Bank lodging a case of financial fraud against him, police said.
Mr. Aggarwal was first arrested by the Azad Maidan police for allegedly cheating investors in his Sakinaka project, Orbit Residency Park, of Rs. 2.5 crore. He was later arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) for alleged financial fraud worth Rs. 52 crore, and again by the EOW based on a complaint filed by the retail recovery division of IDBI bank.
In its complaint, IDBI Bank has alleged that in 2005, deceased stockbroker Amitabh Parekh took a loan of Rs. 3 crore from the bank to buy three flats in Orbit Heights, Mr. Aggarwal’s project in Nana Chowk. After Parekh’s demise, IDBI Bank visited the three flats in question and it to be occupied by three individuals not named by Parekh while taking the loan, and approached the police.
“During interrogation, Mr. Aggarwal said from the time Parekh booked the three flats till the project’s completion, there were repeated changes in the building plans due to various reasons, and he had to reassign flats to several buyers. He has further claimed that it was due to this that the flats booked by Parekh were later allotted to other parties. We will be making inquiries with residents of Orbit Heights to find out if such changes in allotments actually happened," said an EOW officer.
The EOW is also trying to locate R. Chatterjee, a former Orbit Corporation employee, who represented Orbit on behalf of Mr. Aggarwal when Parekh obtained the loan from IDBI. “Mr. Chatterjee quit his job several years ago and we are trying to trace him, as he has also been named as an accused in the FIR. Since all matters related to Parekh’s loan were handled by him, his questioning is important for the case,” another officer said.
Meanwhile, inquiries have revealed that in 2015, Aggarwal repaid the outstanding loan amount along with interest to IDBI Bank, and also paid Parekh’s wife some money in lieu of the flats booked by her husband. The EOW is investigating this, officers said. Mr. Aggarwal has been remanded in police custody till October 18.
