ED Raids Nagpur Builder Over Rs 9.40-Crore Widow Fraud, Seizes Rs 1.95 Crore Cash

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized unaccounted cash worth Rs 1.95 crore and frozen bank deposits exceeding Rs 40 lakh during raids at two locations in Maharashtra's Nagpur district. The searches were conducted as part of a money laundering investigation involving Shashank Govind Prasad Pandey, owner of Prayag Developers and Builders.

The agency also recovered a large number of incriminating documents, records and digital devices during the searches. It has further identified several immovable properties worth crores of rupees that are suspected to have been acquired using proceeds of crime.

Pandey is accused of defrauding a widow of Rs 9.40 crore, among other alleged financial irregularities. The ED's Nagpur office conducted searches at two premises linked to Shashank Govind Prasad Pandey as part of its money laundering probe.

The investigation was initiated on the basis of FIRs registered at Nagpur's Ajni Police Station and Rana Pratap Nagar Police Station under Sections 418 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The investigation has allegedly revealed that Pandey defrauded several people, causing them financial losses.

In one case, Pandey allegedly entered into an agreement with an elderly widow to develop her land. Under the agreement, he was required to pay her Rs 1.75 crore and allot 14 residential flats to her. A Declaration-cum-Correction Deed was also executed for allotting the 14 flats in the woman's name.

However, Pandey allegedly cancelled the document fraudulently, without her knowledge or consent. He subsequently sold the flats earmarked for the woman to third parties. The Rs 8.93 crore generated from these sales was allegedly used for personal gain.

Additionally, the woman was not paid the Rs 45 lakh due to her under the agreement. As a result, she allegedly suffered a total financial loss of Rs 9.40 crore. The ED's investigation has also uncovered alleged irregularities in the Divya Prayag Apartment project in Nagpur.

According to the investigation, 22 flats in the project had been mortgaged to Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) against a project loan of Rs 22 crore. Of this amount, a loan of Rs 11 crore had been disbursed.

Pandey allegedly sold these flats without obtaining the requisite No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the bank and without informing the buyers that the properties had already been mortgaged. He is also accused of submitting a false affidavit to the bank in connection with home loans, concealing the existing mortgage on the flats.

Subsequently, outstanding dues of Rs 12.84 crore emerged, following which proceedings were initiated under the SARFAESI Act. The ED suspects that concealing the mortgage status and selling the flats caused financial losses to buyers while allowing the accused to gain financially through alleged wrongful means.

The agency is continuing its investigation into the matter. Shashank Govind Prasad Pandey, owner of Prayag Developers and Builders, is being investigated in a money laundering case. The ED conducted raids at two locations in Nagpur.