Following a complaint from the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRera), the city police's economic offences wing (EOW) has started an investigation against Highstreet Paramvir Developers for financial irregularities. The project on the 6,525 square foot property in Khar is the focal point of the anomalies, and MahaRera complained about it after conducting a forensic audit of the project. The real estate monitor is taking action against a financial irregularity for the first time.
"From the (forensic) audit report, it appears there is prima facie evidence of misuse/diversion of funds of the allottees as well as the funds borrowed from lenders. We have initiated a preliminary probe against the developer,'' a senior EOW official said.
Builder of the Khar project declined to provide information requested for audit nine instances of both financial and regulatory breaches were found during the forensic audit of Highstreet Paramvir Developers' Khar project by the MahaRera organization, which is run by veteran administrator Ajoy Mehta. ?MahaRera has reasonable grounds to believe the funds with respect to the project, Highstreet, have been dealt with in a manner which is detrimental to the interest of the allottees and the promoter has violated the Rera Act,? a senior official said.
The list of irregularities includes failure to deposit funds into a separate project bank account, misuse of funds, including lender funds, loans and advances from dubious parties, loss from land sales, failure to submit project progress reports, building of unapproved floors, a delay in project completion, and failure to provide information needed for forensic audit. ?During the course of the audit, the auditors had multiple follow-up visits, sent emails and held multiple rounds of discussion, requesting the data required for audit, but the information was not provided for review,? said a senior official.
Since its establishment in 2016, MahaRera has initiated action for violation of rules, but it?s the first time it has sought action for financial irregularities. It was found that Rs 13.7 crore was collected from the allottees, of which Rs 2.3 crore was not deposited in a separate bank account, resulting in contravention of the MahaRera Act.
Additionally, there is a shortage in depositing the entire amount because funds were gathered in accounts other than the specified account. ?It was found there was misuse of Rs 76 crore for making non-project-related payments. Majority of loans and advance transactions were with related parties, there was an absence of documentation.
These loans and advances resulted in potential diversion of funds,? said the official. Additionally, it was against MahaRera law to build unapproved floors without the approval of two-thirds of the allottees. The project was supposed to be finished on December 23, 2022, however as of March 23, 2023, just 31% of the work has been finished. According to the audit report, the promoter collected payments from allottees totaling Rs. 2.7 crore, or more than 70% of the agreement's worth.
