The Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court on Thursday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of promoters of a real estate company who have duped hundreds of people, including several non-resident Indians, of more than Rs.1 billion.
K.A Saju, 37, and C Rajeev Kumar, 33, Managing Director and Director respectively of Cochin-based Apple A Day Properties Ltd, absconded and moved the application after the police registered a case against them.
Police said 250 people had lodged complaints against the company so far. Most of them had paid the firm Rs.500,000 to Rs.3.5 million as advance to purchase apartments and villas in 11 projects. However, the company failed to hand over the houses despite the expiry of many deadlines.
According to preliminary investigation by the police, the amount involved in the cheating is a whopping Rs.1.5 billion. Principal Sessions Judge B. Kemal Pasha had on Wednesday given the accused an opportunity to deposit Rs.1 billion as security for considering their bail plea.
On Thursday, when the application was taken up for consideration again, they offered to complete the projects by spending Rs.350 million. They claimed that the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and the Federal Bank had agreed to provide the amount as loan.
However, the judge rejected the offer saying that the company had collected money from the people with the aim of cheating the customers. The court pointed out that the firm had not delivered even a single unit in the last five years. ‘
The promoters of the company had withdrawn money from all their accounts four months ago. The police said the promoters of the company had lavished money on luxuries. They found as many as 30 luxury cars in the name of the promoters.
The police are in the process of attaching the properties of the company in various parts of the city and outside. They have launched a hunt for the promoters, who are believed to be outside Kerala. A senior police official expressed the hope that they will be able to arrest the two soon.
The company had lured the customers by offering affordable house in the heart of the city. It had mostly targeted the upper middle class, NRIs and the software professionals.
The affected investors have formed an association called ‘Big Apple Buyers Association’ to pursue the case. The Association is also planning to move the court for relief.
This is one of the biggest real estate frauds Kerala has witnessed in the recent past. The Confederation of the Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) said they had no knowledge of the happenings since Apple A Day Properties was not a member of the organisation.
A spokesman of the Cochin unit of the CREDAI though confirmed the company had sought membership but it was not given as they could not fulfill the membership requirements. He said that the case was the result of failure of investors to check the credentials of the builders, who have not completed any project in the last five years.
