Day on, ED arrests realty project promoter from Delhi airport
Chandigarh, Oct. 18 -- A day after the Punjab housing and urban development department revoked concessions worth nearly Rs.40 crore granted to Delhi-based Remigate Buildestates (India) Pvt Ltd, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday arrested the company's promoter, Jagmohan Garg, in connection with its money-laundering investigation into alleged irregularities in land dealings and the waiver of dues by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA).
The federal agency arrested Garg from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport and produced him court, which remanded him to seven-day ED custody.
The arrest comes amid an intensifying probe into the allotment of a prime commercial site in Sector 62, Mohali, and the subsequent concessions granted to the company by GMADA. Remigate is a linked company (shared ownership) controlled by the promoters of Tirupati Infraprojects Pvt Ltd, officials privy to the probe said.
On October 15, the state housing department withdrew the concessions more than eight months after they were approved, following the company's fresh appeal seeking further relief.
Citing the need to protect public revenue and ensure equal treatment of auction participants, principal secretary, housing and urban development department, acting as the revisional authority, held that further concessions would cause a direct loss to the public exchequer.
GMADA has been directed to calculate the outstanding dues, including applicable interest, penal interest and non-construction fees, after adjusting payments already received. It must provide the company with an itemised statement within two weeks, after which Remigate will have one month to clear the dues.
The case concerns a 1.13-acre food court site in Sector 62, auctioned to Remigate for Rs.32.50 crore in September 2015.
The ED's investigation has extended to officials involved in the allotment, engineering assessments and the subsequent waiver of dues. In August, the agency summoned three GMADA officials-chief engineer Ajay Garg, former chief engineer Sunil Kansal and then land acquisition officer Hardeep Singh-to furnish records and documentary evidence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Officials said ED will summon more officers linked to the allotment and waiver.
Last month, the agency conducted searches and survey operations at 26 premises across Delhi, Mohali, Chandigarh, Panchkula and Ludhiana, covering promoters, directors and associates of Tirupati Infraprojects, Remigate Buildestates, MB Infrabuild, Mera Baba Reality Associates and Mera Baba Infrastructure.
During a three-day search at GMADA's office last month, the ED seized records and electronic devices. The agency has alleged that manipulation of reserve prices for unsold land parcels could have caused a potential loss of nearly Rs.10,000 crore to GMADA and the Punjab government.
The money-laundering probe was initiated on the basis of a CBI FIR alleging bank fraud of Rs.238 crore by the promoters of Tirupati Infraprojects and the diversion of funds for personal gain....
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