ED conducts raids in Delhi-NCR in real estate 'fraud' linked money-laundering case

New Delhi: The ED on Monday raided a dozen premises in Delhi-NCR as part of a money-laundering investigation against some real estate companies as part of an alleged Rs 500 crore fraud, official sources said.

The searches pertain to companies such as Orris Infrastructure Private Limited, Greenbay Infrastructure Private Limited and Three C Shelter Private Limited and their promoters named Vijay Gupta, Amit Gupta, Sardar Nirmal Singh and some other directors, the sources said.

About a dozen premises in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) are being searched by the Gurugram zonal office of the central agency.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation, being conducted under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, has been initiated after taking cognisance of FIRs filed by the Delhi Police's economic offences wing and the Gurugram Police. These complaints were filed on petitions of some homebuyers who had invested in projects of these companies, the sources said.

The ED, the sources said, is investigating allegations of real estate fraud, misappropriation and diversion of funds for wrongful gains to the promoters, shareholders and directors of these companies to the tune of more than Rs 500 crore.

It is alleged that the companies collected more than Rs 1,000 crore but only spent about Rs 500 crore on the actual projects, which got stalled due to "fraudulent" sale of a part of licensed land without approvals, "diversion" of funds for further investment.