More than 170 people, including staff of Information Technology firms, advocates and the police have lodged complaints about a fraud committed by a real estate firm on them after collecting huge amounts on the pretext of leasing out homes in posh apartments that were rented out by the original owners.
All these complainants are either lessees living in luxury apartments in Sholinganallur, Medavakkam, Velachery, Pallikaranai and Perumbakkam. As they were forced to vacate the house by the owners due to non-payment of rent to them, they lodged complaints with the police in Tambaram Police Commissionerate. The aggrieved petitioners met Deputy Commissioner, Pallikaranai, Jose Thangaiah and submitted a representation.
They alleged that Solai Muthuraja was running a realty firm in Kovilambakkam. He took the houses on rent from the original owners in the posh apartments on Rajiv Gandhi Salai and surrounding areas. Based on advertisements posted on a free real estate portal, they approached Solai Muthuraja and his associates and entered into a lease agreement with him by making payment upwards of ₹5 lakh.
The police said the firm run by him failed to pay rent to the house owners and so the lessees were told to vacate. The realty firm failed to return the amount and the company’s owner went missing.
One of the complainants said: “We thought that we could save money by entering into a lease agreement and so that monthly rental could be avoided. On the contrary, we lost our money to the firm. We entered into the agreement with the concurrence of the original owners.”
A senior officer said more than 170 people, including house owners and lessees, have lodged complaints of cheating by the firm to the tune of above ₹15 crore. “Since the issue has wider ramifications, we are considering transferring it to the competent authority such as Economic Offences for further investigation,” he said.
