This story is from September 12, 2016

Realty firm MD’s police custody till Friday

Realty firm MD’s police custody till Friday
Mumbai: A holiday magistrate on Monday extended the police custody of Pujit Aggarwal, managing director of realty firm Orbit Corporation, in a cheating case till September 16.
Azad Maidan police had arrested the builder last Thursday and a local magistrate had remanded him to police custody till September 12. The arrest followed a first information report (FIR) filed by Capri Global Capital Ltd (CGCL) against Orbit Corporation and its two promoters, Ravi Kiran Aggarwal and Pujit Aggarwal, for allegedly having cheated it of Rs 2.5 crore over three flats it had booked in Orbit Residency Park, at Sakinaka, Andheri, only to find out they were already mortgaged and now up for public auction.

An Orbit Corp spokesperson had denied allegations of misappropriation soon after his arrest. On Monday, the builder sought permission for medicines for an ailment and did not seek bail. The holiday magistrate—since courts were shut for Bakri Id—said the matter will be taken up before the regular magistrate on the next date.
The company’s website describes Pujit Aggarwal as an alumnus of Harvard Business School and “one of the most sought-after entrepreneurs in the country”. The police, through public prosecutor Rajendra Suryavanshi, had sought his custody on Saturday as he had argued that the builder had “every intention to cheat the investors who had booked the flats in 2010 on being informed that the properties were unencumbered. The money was to be deposited in an escrow account as part of the developer’s agreement with its lender, LIC Housing Finance Ltd. But the money was never deposited, and used by Aggarwal himself, and LICHFL sought to auction the flats too, leaving the buyers high and dry.”
Advocates Jayesh Kananni and Rajesh Vanzara, appearing for Aggrawal on Monday, requested the court to allow him to get a pillow too for a backache that he suffered from. The court allowed the request.
Advocate Aabad Ponda, appearing for the complainant, had at the first remand plea said, “This was clearly a case of misrepresentation and cheating. Orbit never informed the buyers that its flats were already mortgaged in 2008 to the LIC company. This fact was suppressed in the sale agreements and thus he cheated my clients of Rs 2.5 crore. The flats are sealed by LIC for an auction. It’s not only about the money, the investors want the flats.”
The prosecutor did not argue on the merits of the case and will now inform the court of the police probe and its details on September 16. Aggarwal stood in court in cream trousers and a white shirt and said he had no complaints against the police when asked by the magistrate. Ashok Aggawal, the complainant, working with the CGCL as senior vice-president, had filed the FIR with Azad Maidan police on May 3, 2016, against Pujit Aggrawal and his father. Several investors were present in court.
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