Wave Group Vice Chairman Monty Chadha, son of late liquor baron Ponty Chadha, was arrested on Wednesday from the Delhi airport. Chadha was trying to leave for Phuket, Thailand, when he was arrested by officials of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW). There was a Look Out Circular issued against Chadha and the promoters of Wave Group in 2018 for defrauding people for Rs 100 crore by promising them flats at cheaper rates.

In the FIR registered against the promoters of the company, including Monty Chadha in January 2018 that was lodged by complainants K Ramesh, Kaveri Ramesh and 19 others, Wave Group has been charged with inflicting "suffering for 11 years...with no visible end to the abuse in sight". The FIR was filed against the promoters including  Monty Chadha, Harmandeep Singh Kandhari, Rajinder Singh Chadha, Gurjit Singh Kocher, Kritika Gupta and other officials under IPC sections 420, 406, 469, 468, 471 and 1208.

The complainants said that Uppal Chadha of Hi Tech Developers Pvt Ltd had announced a project in 2003 for the development of a Hi-Tech City, including multiple townships, in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. In February 2005, agents and brokers started approaching the public with a discount plan on these townships. The flats were advertised with multiple facilities, including international school, college, shopping malls, gated boundary etc. Additionally, they promised possession within 18 months from the date of booking.    

The complainants said in the FIR that the sales staff of the company lured them by showing the plans of the Wave City (High Tech Township Project), the possession of which was promised within 8 months from the date of allotment as per company documents. They said that they were made to sign a two-page "Registration Form for Expression of Interest". At that time, the complainants added the company did not have the project land or licence from the government for Hi Tech Township project.

After 15 months, when the complainants did not get their provisional allotment of the plot or the refund money that was promised with interest, they decided to approach the directors. But they added that hired bouncers and "anti-social elements" didn't let them meet the directors personally. They furthermore alleged that while the complainants' signatures were taken, there was no seal in their copy.

On October 16, 2006, they received a letter stating that the Detailed Project Report has been approved by the UP government, the master plan was ready and the acquisition funds were deposited with the government. However, whenever they approached the company to inquire about the details of the allotment, they were told that it would take some time since it was such a big project.

On November 20, 2009, they received a letter stating that the necessary licences and the first phase were approved but the allotment was done only for registered applicants. Following that, on June 15, 2011, they were handed a demand letter from the VP of the company. They found that the name of the company, the township as well as the address of the company were now changed and all cheque payments were sought for a new entity - Wave City NH24. The company had accepted 65 percent to 85 percent of the money in lump sum from new applicants, who were allotted the Phase 1 flats while the older applicants had no knowledge about it.

When objected they were told that the size of the township had increased from 1,500 acres to 4,500 acres. Following this, the complainants asked for a refund with interest but to no avail. In the FIR, they mentioned that they were told that their investments were safe and that within a year, they would be allotted a flat. In August 2012, they were offered the allotment but agreement was offered and additional charges were levied, which increased the rate per square considerably, they mentioned in the FIR.

Now, even after 11 years and up to 85 percent payment, they were still to get their assured plot. They added that even at the time of the FIR, there were no developed plots and farmers were still farming in those lands. When the complainants demanded to identify the plots, they admitted that there were no plots and the map was just design. The complainants add that as per their knowledge there is no complete approved layout of the entire plot. The complainants in their FIR accused the promoters of fraud, cheating, fabrication, forgery and wrongful gain as a company of more than Rs 100 crore from the complainants.

(Edited by Anwesha Madhukalya)