A west Delhi-based builder, who allegedly duped over 120 homebuyers by making them invest money in a fictitious project in Noida, has been arrested by Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police.
The accused, Satinder Singh Bhasin, is a resident of Rajouri Garden. Joint commissioner (EOW) OP Mishra said Bhasin told people that his company was going to build 33 floors in 99 days and collected a huge sum from them without having any authorisation or land to build the project.
It was alleged that in 2012-13, Bhasin’s company, Mist Avenue Pvt Ltd, invited the general public through an advertisement to invest in its project, Mist Avenue, situated at Plot No 1, Sec-143B in Noida. “The company kept demanding funds from the buyers without constructing the building and even levied interest on the amount that was not due from the complainants,” Mishra said.
Later, Bhasin changed the name of the project to “Festival City” and also the name of the company to Mist Direct Sales Pvt Ltd. “The buyers were assured possession in 2015, but the deadline was arbitrarily extended to 2022. The allottees were forced to enter into a new contract with the new company. The project was still kept in abeyance,” added Mishra.
After police sought a report on the project from Noida Authority, it came to the fore that Mist Avenue Pvt Ltd had no authority to develop it. The licence to develop the project had been given to Anand Infoyage Pvt Ltd on the said land. Details of bank accounts confirmed that money had been collected from the public after which the accused was arrested, police said.