ED raids two Nagpur sites of Prayag Developers, seizes Rs 1.95 crore cash

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Nagpur, has seized Rs 1.95 crore in undeclared cash during searches at premises linked to real estate developer Shashank Govindprasad Pandey, and has frozen bank balances of more than Rs 40 lakh. The agency is investigating allegations that Pandey defrauded several people, including an elderly widow, in property deals.

The ED carried out searches at two locations in Nagpur under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Pandey is the proprietor of Prayag Developers and Builders. Officials also seized important documents, records and digital devices. The searches identified several immovable properties worth crores of rupees, which are suspected to have been bought with proceeds of crime.

The investigation was initiated on the basis of cases registered under Sections 418 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Ajni and Pratap Nagar police stations.

According to the ED, Pandey entered into a development agreement with a senior citizen widow. Under the agreement, he was to pay her Rs 1.75 crore and allot 14 residential flats.

The flats were fixed in the woman's name through a "declaration-cum-correction deed". However, the ED alleges that Pandey cancelled this deed without the woman's knowledge or consent and sold the flats to other buyers. He allegedly diverted Rs 8.93 crore received from the sales for his personal use. He also failed to pay the woman another Rs 45 lakh. The woman's total loss is estimated at Rs 9.4 crore.

The agency also found irregularities in the "Divya Prayag Apartment" project. Twenty-two flats were mortgaged to Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) against a project loan of Rs 22 crore, of which Rs 11 crore had been disbursed.

The ED alleges that Pandey sold these flats without obtaining a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the lender and without informing buyers of the mortgage. He also submitted a false affidavit to the bank while taking a home loan.

The lender later recorded dues of Rs 12.84 crore and initiated action under the SARFAESI Act.

The ED suspects that these transactions caused heavy losses to flat buyers and gave Pandey illegal gains. Further investigation in the case is continuing.