INDIA. Mumbai: R K Arora, Chairman of Supertech Limited, an NCR (Delhi) based real estate firm, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on charges of money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 on Tuesday.
Arora was arrested after questioning for the last three days in connection with multiple FIRs registered against him and the Supertech Group on charges of default in repayment of bank loans, diversion of company funds, and failure to hand over possession of flats to home buyers, the ED sources said.
The Supertech Group defaulted on its payments to the banks/ financial institutions which resulted in Rs 1500 crore of different banks becoming Non-Performing Assets (NPA).
Last month, the Dadri administration in Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh) issued a notice to Supertech, asking them to repay a total of Rs 37 crore. Arora was detained at the local District Magistrate’s office but was released later.
The ED had provisionally attached 25 immovable properties at Rudrapur (Uttarakhand) and Meerut Mall, Meerut(Uttar Pradesh), valued at Rs 40.39 crore belonging to Supertech Group of Companies and its Directors, under the provisions of PMLA on April 11.
Investigations were started based on a number of FIRs that were filed by the Delhi Police, Haryana Police, and UP Police, alleging that the company and its Directors engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud people by collecting money from potential buyers as an advance against booked flats in their real estate projects and failing to uphold its agreed-upon obligations to provide the flats’ possession on schedule.
For the purpose of constructing projects/flats, Supertech Ltd. and group entities obtained down payments from house buyers as well as project-specific term loans from banks/financial institutions. But these funds were plundered and used to buy land in other group companies’ names, which was then used as security to borrow money from banks and other financial organisations, according to the ED.
On August 31, 2021, the Supreme Court ordered the demolition of Supertech Ltd’s twin 40-storeyed towers, which are part of the under-construction Emerald Court project in Noida, on charges of violation of building norms.
Supertech Limited, founded in 1988 in NCR, has been claiming to be the pioneer in launching the concept of mixed-use development in India and coming up with high-rise constructions in North India. It has a major presence in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana and has been engaged in the construction of projects in Bengaluru in Karnataka. The business is working on projects in a variety of real estate sectors, including residential, township, commercial, retail, office, and hospitality.
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