Jalandhar, July 23 -- The enforcement directorate (ED) has filed a 3,500-page chargesheet against Mohali based real estate builder in a multi-crore money laundering probe into the alleged change of land use (CLU) fraud involving major real estate projects in Punjab. In a chargesheet submitted at special court (PMLA), Mohali on July 20, the federal agency has accused realtor Ajay Sehgal for his involvement in laundering proceeds of crime (PoC) generated worth Rs.348 crore by obtaining CLUs on the basis of fake consent letters. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for August 4. Sehgal, key promoter of Suntech City project, developed by the Indian Cooperative Housing Building Society (ICHBS) limited, was arrested on May 22. "During the course of investigation, it was revealed that Sehgal was the 'mastermind' behind generation and concealment of the PoC and has committed offence of money laundering," said ED spokesperson. The ED case stems from an FIR registered at Mullanpur police station in November, 2022, against Sehgal and other office bearers of ICHBS including Suresh Kumar Bajaj, Aashish Kamra and Rajesh Girdhar for allegedly duping customers and land owners by preparing fraudulent CLUs. "Investigation conducted under PMLA revealed that Sehgal, secretary of ICHBS Limited, submitted fake consent letters to the department of town and country planning for obtaining CLUs of 108.58 acres of agricultural land to residential and commercial plots in a real estate project 'Suntec City' at Mullanpur in New Chandigarh," said ED spokesperson. The agency said, based on these consent letters, licence was issued by Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) and obtained RERA registration for this particular project. The probe revealed that Sehgal failed to transfer the land reserved for economical weaker section (EWS) to estate officer, GMADA as per the licence conditions, while started selling units in the project even before obtaining RERA registration, besides giving possession to land owners without obtaining completion certificate (either partial or full) from GMADA. The building plan and CLU for Suntec City was illegally approved without solid waste management area, which is mandatory as per building plan rules, cited ED. The ED said during the investigation, it was found that a joint development agreement (JDA) was executed between ICHBS Limited and VRS Township Pvt Ltd (now ABS Townships Pvt. Ltd.) that all the development rights and sale rights of the project were handed over to ABS Township, whose directors were Sehgal's brothers- Sanjay Sehgal and Anil Sehgal. "Thereafter, ABS Township Private Limited registered La Canela Phase 1, a multi-storey residential complex and District 7 with RERA and generated PoC by selling the units in the said projects based in New Chandigarh only. The residential units were in La Canela Phase 2 without taking any RERA approval," the ED said. ED investigation revealed that GMADA started receiving complaints regarding use of forged consent letters from 2020 onwards. "No action was taken against the accused persons allowing them to generate PoC by selling residential and commercial units in a project whose approval was obtained illegally. Instead, ABS Township Private Limited was again granted CLU of 14.59 acres altering layout of the original approved project without following as per RERA Act," the ED said. The agency investigation quantified the PoC at approximately Rs.348 crore, which comprises of sales of Rs.212.58 crore and unsold inventory of Rs.135.41 crore. "The investigation has established that the accused, Ajay Sehgal, knowingly generated, acquired, possessed, concealed and utilised PoC arising out of schedule offense of obtaining CLUs based on fake consent letters, illegal approval and fraudulent registration under RERA Act. The federal agency carried multiple raids in Mohali, Chandigarh and other parts of the state in May and June at multiple premises and lockers connected with the accused persons and confiscated incriminating documents, digital devices and unaccounted cash to the tune of Rs.30.98 lakh. During the searches, ED officials also recovered Rs.21 lakh allegedly thrown from the ninth floor of Western Towers in Kharar by persons linked to the accused....