INDIA. Mumbai: Despite restrictions by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Pearls Agrotech Corporation Limited (PACL) attached properties are being clandestinely sold by PACL’s associates and brokers, the example being the recent sale of a huge plot of land located at Pune in Maharashtra.
Plot No 294, (Sub Plot No 04) (CTS No 17 A/2 A), admeasuring 1354.30 square meters, listed by SEBI on its web portal (Sl No MR 25998/16) for auction sale, was sold based on forged documents by the wife of PACL’s former broker Pratik Kumar Shah to one Udaysing Babaraje Walunj. The sale was registered with Sub-Registrar, Haveli, Pune. (Registration No 2908/2021, dated February 29, 2021).
The plot was taken over by ”Kemptyfall Resorts Private Limited”, one of the PACL companies, in 2010 from the ”Ashoka Apartments”, located at Koregaon Park in Pune. It was sold by Rupal Pratik Kumar Shah (wife of the PACL’s absconding broker Pratik Kumar Shah). She gave a power of attorney to one Prashant Prabhakar Manjrekar in the name of “Synergyone Infrastructure & Projects Private Limited” (one of the bogus companies floated by Shah). Manjrekar, in turn, sold it to Udaysing Walunj, who is stated to be the Director of Sheesham Infracon Private Limited.
Although the plot belonged to the ”Kemptyfall Resorts Private Limited”, Shah showed it as belonging to his company- ”Synergyone Infrastructure and Projects Private Limited”.
Other companies floated by Shah include Green Fortune Developers and Promoters Private Limited, Greenfield Estates, NSB Agro Products Private Limited, Wildoak Infrastructure and Project Private Limited, Sunrise Developers Private Limited, Fortune Infracity Private Limited and Premium Infra Heights Private Limited.
Due to the nefarious activities of Shah, the PACL, through public notice, had cautioned the public that Shah, who was authorized to purchase properties on behalf of the PACL, had defrauded the company and purchased the properties in his name. As such, he was no more associated with the PACL, and the people should not deal with him in the name of PACL.
Pratik Kumar’s arrest
PACL registered an FIR against Shah at Hinjwadi Police station in 2013, stating that he had misused company funds and purchased the property in his own name/ in the name of his companies. In response, he was arrested and later released on bail. Subsequently, he fled the country.
Janhit Association
Ganesh Khandave and Vishal Mhetre, President and Secretary respectively of the ”Janhit Association”, wide their letters dated June 23 and October 01 pointing out this fraud to the Pune Police Commissioner, Pune Collector and other agencies seeking their immediate intervention in the matter.
The history of the plot
The plot belonged to Ashoka Apartments (part of Rat Rani Coop Housing Society complex). It was purchased by the society from one Jawahar Ramchandra Sachdev, and a 12-storey building was constructed. Sachdev passed away in 2005. Since the conveyance was not passed on, the society moved the court and based on the order (dated November 26, 2007) passed by the Joint Civil Judge T B Jadhav, Pune, a Deed of Conveyance was registered on Sept 26, 2008. The indenture was executed on March 15, 2010, before the Joint Sub-Registrar. Subsequently, the Ashoka Apartment building was demolished in 2019.
The investigation by the agencies
In May this year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) stated that the PACL collected amounts running into crores from investors all over India and siphoned off the money. The subsidiaries of PACL- Dhanashree Developers Private Limited (DDPL) and Unicorn had purchased land parcels at Vasai (near Mumbai). They entered into agreements with different entities for the sale of FSI and construction of residential-cum-commercial projects and generated huge profits. Eventually, the ED attached the 3,39,984.2 square meters of land at Vasai and froze Rs 7.51 crore bank balance of PACL.
PACL
PACL was set up in Jaipur (Rajasthan) on February 13, 1996, as a collective incentive scheme offering land at cheaper rates. SEBI wound it up on August 22, 2014, and attached its properties in December 2015. The Justice R M Lodha Committee was set up by the SEBI, as per the Supreme Court directions on February 02, 2016, to sell the PACL properties to refund investors’ money.
The Committee ordered the auction sale of 27,133 PACL properties on July 25, 2016. Over 5.50 crore investors duped to the tune of Rs. 49,100 crores ( now amount swelled to Rs 60,000 crore with accumulated interest).
Rs.831.78 crores refunded to 18.43 lakh investors till now. Nirmal Singh Bhangoo and 15 other accused were arrested. One of the accused, Kanwaljit Toor, died in custody in January this year.
Also Read: SEBI’s Refund to PACL Investors Inches up to Rs. 831.78 Crore
