EOW Files FIR Against Everest Group Directors for ₹96.7 Crore Cheating in Mahalaxmi Property Redevelopment
Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing accuses Everest Fincap Pvt Ltd of duping investors in a major real estate project involving prime Mahalaxmi land.
Mumbai News: EOW Registers FIR Against Everest Group Directors for ₹96.7 Crore Cheating in Mahalaxmi Property Redevelopment
The Mumbai Police Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has filed a case of cheating against the directors of Everest Fincap Pvt Ltd (EFPL) for allegedly cheating real estate investors of ₹96.7 crore in relation to the redevelopment of a prime property in Mahalaxmi. The FIR mentions charges against directors Kishore Shah, Vimal Shah, Nainesh Shah, and Sheryu Shah that they cheated a real estate investment firm of ₹36 crore and an urban infrastructure real estate fund of ₹60.7 crore under a planned joint venture to build seven acres of the insolvent Bradbury Mills land at Saat Raasta.
The complaint was filed by Devesh Kumar Jamanaprasad Vyas, vice-chairman and vice-president of the Urban Infrastructure Venture Capital Fund (UIVCF), which has Anand Jain’s Jai Corp and Reliance Industries as its key investors. As per Vyas, investments meant for arbitration awards, resolution of legal disputes, and actual development of the property were diverted by the EFPL directors for personal purposes.
The FIR by the EOW, registered with the Cuffe Parade police station, implicates Everest Fincap and its directors in enticing investors on the assurance of high returns for settling the issue of the Bradbury Mills property and for co-developing the prime property that spans 28,437.29 square meters. Nainesh Shah, one of the directors, has refuted the allegations, stating that the case is false and citing a closure report submitted by the EOW that it was a civil dispute.
The Bradbury Mills property was confiscated by the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) as a result of defaults in loans by Bradbury Mills. In May 2005, EFPL under its new avatar Money Magnum Nest Pvt Ltd bought the property for ₹41 crore through DRT proceedings. Money Magnum Nest then acquired nearly seven acres of the Bradbury Mills land bordering Dagdi Chawl between Rippon Road and Haines Road in Mahalaxmi.
In 2007-08, UIVCF and other investors invested ₹300 crore in three projects of the Everest Group and referred the developer to arbitration in 2012-13 because of non-performance of the projects. The developments under way give rise to serious questions about the management and integrity of investment practices in the real estate sector.
