Two Mumbai builders held in separate cases of duping flat buyers and violating project deal

Representative image

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police has arrested two builders in two separated cases for allegedly duping 30 flat buyers of over Rs 12 crore and for diverting Rs 15 crore for personal use without completing a project in subuabran Mumbai, reported PTI.

An official told PTI that one of the accused builders, Jayesh Shah (59), had been arrested in 2021 as well for a similar crime of duping flat buyers.

Shah was arrested from his suburban Kandivali office on charges of cheating, forgery, breach of trust and under the Maharashtra Ownership of Flats (Regulation of the Promotion, Construction, Sale, Management and Transfer) Act on Friday.
He was remanded to police custody till June 27.

The official told PTI that police suspect Shah had cheated more than 100 buyers who had booked flats in his Oshiwara-based project in 2012. Last year, he was arrested from Arthur Road jail after one Avadh Shah and four others lodged an FIR against him.

The fresh FIR was lodged by 30 people who had paid Rs 12.41 crore to Shah to purchase flats but were never given the possession, the official said.

In another case, a 60 year-old developer was arrested by the EOW for allegedly cheating another builder to the tune of Rs 15 crore, a crime branch official told PTI.

The accused, Mangesh Sawant, allegedly used the money transferred to his account for the completion of a Powai-based project for his personal use violating the conditions of the deal he had signed with the complainant.

Sawant was arrested under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for cheating and other charges, the official added.

(With inputs from PTI)