Mumbai police arrests builder and his son in Rs 3.5 crore cheating case

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police arrested Madhukar Megh Rupji and his son Tejal of Rupji Constructions under various Indian Penal Code sections for cheating, forgery, breach of trust and criminal conspiracy, and under the stringent Maharashtra Ownership Flat Act, 1963 (MOFA). Police officials said though the firm was accused of cheating 16 buyers in Ghatkopar, the complaint had been filed by only one buyer. The complainant had booked a flat in 2009 in a proposed tower, Akangsha, which was to come up at Sahakar Market, Pant Nagar, in Ghatkopar (E). He had paid Rs 20 lakh to the firm Rupji Constructions over one year. But when the complainant went at the site in 2012 he found no work had started despite the firm claiming it completed the project in three years. During investigations, the police came across other flat buyers who had booked flats by paying 10-50% booking amounts. The sum of these flat buyers came up to Rs 3.7 crore. “We want to interrogate the accused to know if they had obtained basic permission and other requisites for construction of the tower,” said an officer. Police said they want to recover the amount and want to know if builder invested it somewhere else.