Gurgaon: Economic Offences Wing officials directed to look into home buyers grievances against Unitech

Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik has directed senior Economic Offences Wing officials to inquire into the complaint of Gurgaon home buyers claiming Unitech Ltd has not begun work on their project and has siphoned off their money and parked it in foreign companies. Unitech is denying the allegations.

Sources said home buyers of Anthea Floors, a Unitech Ltd project slated to come up in Sector 70, had mailed their grievances to Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik. The home buyers had earlier registered an FIR against Unitech Ltd with Economic Offences Wing claiming that the group has indulged in serious corporate fraud.

The home buyers were, however, not happy with the police probe into the matter. The Commissioner has now assured the home buyers of an independent inquiry into the allegations. Vivek Kumar Tyagi, a home buyer, said, "We had invested our hard earned money into the project, but Unitech has not even started work at the site."

Also read: SC directs refund of Rs 2 cr deposited by Unitech to investors

As per the allegations, Unitech Group has created 240 subsidiary companies and a sum of approximately Rs 5,800 crore has been invested through various means in the subsidiary companies. Out of the total sum, Rs 1,130 crore have been shown as non-recoverable by the company auditors.

Out of 240 subsidiary companies, 33 companies are situated in Cyprus, Isle of Man, British Virgin Islands, Republic of Mauritius, UAE, Libya and Jersey. The investments, it is alleged, made in these companies are undeniably a modus operandi used by the promoters of Unitech Ltd to divert the funds of the company abroad.

Sources say, now, the police are taking legal opinion on their future course of action. Either, they will appeal against the court order or file the charge sheet for court to decide whether company officials should be held responsible. In order to understand the financial nuances, the police have also hired a chartered accountant.

Also read: 'We're pained when builders harass buyers': SC asks Unitech to refund Rs 15 crore to customers

However, Unitech Ltd has denied the allegations in a statement issued to India Today Group. Their statement read: "All allegations are frivolous and baseless and therefore denied. The company has invested significant money for licensing and initial development (like earth filing, compaction, demarcation, laying down of sewerage & drainage lines) of this Project which is not visible from eyes, apart from money invested for purchase of land which is fully paid."

The Company is committed to complete and deliver this project, and for this purpose, has arranged requisite funds to expedite construction and development activities.

When asked by when and how Unitech Ltd will be able to complete the projects, Priya Kapoor, corporate communications head, said: "Our projects are primarily covered in 3 categories. In some projects, Unitech has opened joint development accounts with the customer as one of the signatories, wherein the progress of the projects and expenses are being jointly monitored on a periodic basis by the Joint Development Committee and payments are issued from the joint development account. This ensures complete transparency and trust to deliver the project in a time bound manner.

Also read: New deal for home buyers in Gurgaon as government slashes circle rate by 15 per cent

Some of the projects are being funded by financial institutions, where escrows are created and are being monitored by customers on a daily basis. Also these projects are being monitored by the institutions themselves.

Rest of the projects in NCR, Kolkata, Chennai, etc are under due consideration for loan sanction by one of the financial institutions, and construction will be mobilized and further ramped up by the next quarter end. During the progress of the development and completion of these projects, there will be substantial unsold value that will be unlocked that will help us to complete these projects.