A magistrate’s court convicted and sentenced a 50-year-old developer to three years’ imprisonment for cheating flat purchasers in a redeveloped Byculla building of nearly Rs 11 crore.
The main complainant in the case, a mother-son duo had bought a 1,000 sq ft flat in the building for Rs 57 lakh and paid the full amount in 2012.
“On going through the record and proceeding, it is seen that the prosecution has proved that the accused, Rizwan Dadan, a partner in Royal Realtors, has cheated the informant, his mother and witnesses of Rs 10.9 crore and misappropriated the same amount for his own use, without handing over possession of the flats to them,” metropolitan magistrate D S Patale said.
Besides charges of cheating under the IPC, Dadan was also found guilty of offences related to the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act (MOFA). “…it was obligatory on the accused being promoter or developer to execute the registered agreement in respect of the flats before accepting the advance payment of more than 20% of sale price from the concerned allottee as per Section 4 of MOFA. However, the accused accepted more than 20% advance payment of the sale price from the informant and flat purchaser witnesses without executing the registered agreement,” the magistrate said. The accused was also fined Rs 50,000 which will be given to the informant as compensation.
Another accused is absconding. As many as 23 witnesses deposed, among whom were flat purchasers who never received possession of their homes despite paying the full amount. The same flats were sold to multiple parties.
The maximum sentence attracted in the case was seven years’ imprisonment for charges related to cheating, but as Dadan has been in jail since November 2020 the time spent in jail will be set off against his sentence.
The builders had redeveloped Al Fateh. In the 41-page judgement copy, the magistrate said that from the documents, it was seen that without making full disclosure of the flats sold by him in Royal Touch building to the victims, the developer entered into the agreement with the tenant association of Al Fateh building and allowed them to enter into the possession of flats.
“Thus, the accused has not maintained the separate account of the advance payment received from informant and witnesses and he being promoter has committed the criminal breach of trust of the huge advance amount received by him..,” the magistrate said.The magistrate also said that the evidence brought on record by the prosecution proves that the accused had fraudulent and dishonest intention to defraud and deceive the informant and witnesses since inception.
