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The Enforcement Directorate has initiated 22 PMLA investigations following the Supreme Court's directive to elevate CBI preliminary enquiries into formal probes, targeting a suspected scheme involving builders and banks that allegedly defrauded NCR homebuyers. Builders including Jaypee, Jaiprakash, Ajnara, Vatika, Supertech, and Idea Builders, as well as banks like SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Indiabulls, and others, are under scrutiny. The probe focuses on fraud, corruption, and money laundering, aims to retrieve illicit assets, and seeks restitution for buyers burdened with EMIs despite not receiving possession all based on extensive CBI groundwork across numerous individuals and construction sites.
The Enforcement Directorate has opened 22 separate money-laundering investigations under the PMLA, targeting what authorities described as a collusion between certain builders and financial institutions that led to homebuyers in the NCR being exploited. These actions come after the Supreme Court instructed the CBI to convert preliminary enquiries into full-scale investigations. As a result, the CBI's FIRs formed the basis for the cases now being pursued by the ED. Advertisement
The investigation seeks to uncover instances of fraud, corruption, and money laundering, and to identify and attach illicit assets. The ED also plans to use the restitution provisions of the PMLA to try to recover funds for affected buyers wherever possible.
Several prominent developers are under scrutiny, including Jaypee Sports International Ltd, Jaiprakash Associates Ltd, Ajnara India Ltd, Vatika Ltd, Jaypee Infratech Ltd, Supertech, and Idea Builders. On the finance side, banks and lenders such as the State Bank of India, Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd, Piramal Finance, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Capital Housing Finance, and PNB Housing Finance Ltd have also been named.
This crackdown follows a judicial observation regarding the risks posed by subvention schemes, under which banks disbursed funds directly to developers and were meant to collect EMIs only after handing over possession. These schemes allegedly left homebuyers shouldering EMI obligations without ever receiving possession of their flats.
In earlier proceedings, the Supreme Court had approved the conversion of six preliminary enquiries conducted by the CBI into 22 formal cases, noting that over 1,000 individuals were questioned and nearly 60 project sites inspected highlighting the investigation's scale and broad public interest.
Source: PTI
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