On Wednesday, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) obtained a two-day custody of Sandeep Yadav and Arvind Walia, the promoters of the Haryana-based real estate firm Ramprastha Group, as part of an investigation into money laundering associated with an alleged fraud of Rs 1,100 crore involving homebuyers.
The two individuals were apprehended on Monday following a raid conducted by the Gurugram zonal office of the federal investigative agency at three locations in Delhi and Gurugram, including the directors’ residences, early that morning.
Yadav and Walia serve as directors and hold majority shares in Ramprastha Promoters and Developers Pvt Ltd (RPDPL). They were taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Subsequently, the federal agency presented the two in front of an additional session judge, after which the ED secured their custody.
The agency initiated a survey against the group in September 2024. It is alleged that RPDPL raised approximately Rs 1,100 crore from over 2,000 homebuyers for various housing projects, including Project Edge, Project Skyz, Project Rise, and Ramprastha City (a plotted colony project) in different sectors of Gurugram between 2008 and 2011. According to sources, the possession of the flats or plots has yet to be granted, even after a span of 15 to 20 years.
Earlier this month, the agency seized colonies and plots covering more than 1,900 acres, valued at over Rs 681.54 crore, belonging to the group in Gurugram as part of this investigation. The money laundering case originates from multiple FIRs lodged by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi and Haryana Police, based on complaints from numerous homebuyers against RPDPL and its promoters, including Yadav, Walia, and Balwant Chaudhary, for their “failure” to deliver the promised flats and plots within the agreed timelines, as stated by the ED.
The company and its promoters allegedly “diverted” funds received from buyers of these projects to their group companies as advances for land acquisitions, rather than utilizing them for the completion of the promised homes, as indicated in the agency’s statement.
