The racket has been running for four to five years, the Mhada officer said. These agents must have made at least a few hundred crores, he added.
The vigilance department of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) has busted a gang of real estate agents “who made a few hundred crores” by allegedly duping prospective land-buyers over the past five years.
Three estate agents have been arrested, Mhada officials said. Sameer Tanveer, alias Sameer Dadhi, was arrested on Sunday, while Haidar Kasam Ali and Yusuf
Mohammad Sailet were arrested on February 27. More arrests are likely, they said.
“The agents showed empty Mhada plots in Malwani, Malad (West), to prospective buyers saying the plots were up for sale,” Mhada’s chief vigilance officer Jawahar Singh told DNA.
“They then demanded an initial payment of Rs3,20,000 for a plot of 30-40 sq metres. The three had taken ‘token money’ from at least 200 to 400 individuals,” he said. “They made bogus land documents and files of the prospective buyers.”
The three were arrested after Aasif Ghulam Ansari, 29, a resident of Andheri (West), complained to the vigilance department that Sailet had cheated him of Rs6.5 lakh after promising him a plot in Malwani.
“We informed the Santa Cruz police about it, since the area where the money transaction took place was under their jurisdiction,” Singh said. Mhada officials, along with the police, raided the agencies run by the three and arrested them, he said.
Officials of the vigilance department had received “information” about some alleged estate agents cheating land-buyers in Malwani, but there was no complaint till Ansari filed one, he said.
According to Singh, several people had demanded their money back from the agents. “The three gave them cheques, but the cheques bounced. Surprisingly, none of the victims approached us even then.”
The racket has been running for four to five years, the Mhada officer said. These agents must have made at least a few hundred crores, he added. Singh said there is a possibility of some Mhada officials being involved in the racket. “We are investigating the case,” he said.
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