Builder booked in Rs 1.5 crore cheating case in Pune

PUNE: A 70-year-old Mohammedwadi resident, Charles George, has lodged a complaint with the Kondhwa police accusing builder Vishwajeet Jhavar, CEO of Marvel Landmarks Private Limited, and 11 others of cheating and criminal breach of trust by not handing over a 3 BHK flat his son had booked in April 2016 in the Marvel Isola housing project near Corianthan Club, nor returning the Rs1.45 crore consideration paid for the same.
George has alleged that the project has remained unfinished and the builder failed to deliver the flat within the promised time.
Deputy commissioner of police (Zone V) Vikrant Deshmukh told TOI, “The investigation officer is scrutinizing the documents submitted by the complainant in the cheating case. Since the amount involved is over Rs1.45 crore, we will take a call on transferring the investigation to the economic offences wing (EOW) after the scrutiny is done.”
Jhavar’s legal advisor Javed Shaikh said, “The J building in Marvel Isola, where the flat was booked, was registered with RERA in 2017. The ninth building (J) comprising 22 floors, in which the complainant’s son Rayan had invested, could not be completed because of issues arising from demonetization and the Covid pandemic. A finance company had granted loan to complete the said building, but the project got delayed due to a delay in loan disbursement. The project will be completed in 15 months. George did not approach the builder and others with his grievance. We could have offered him a ready flat in other projects in Pune. He directly lodged an FIR because of a miscommunication.”
TOI made repeated calls to builder Jhavar, but there was no response.
George’s lawyer Ranjit Srinivasan told TOI, “On February 2, 2013, the complainant’s son, who is based in Kuwait, had signed an agreement with the builder and others and paid Rs1,45,15,322. The buyer was to receive possession of the flat in 2016, but he did not get the same. The builder and others did not give an update on the delay to RERA nor did they refund the money with 9% interest to the buyer. The complainant, who is the power of attorney holder for his son, had filed a complaint application with police around three months. The FIR has been registered after a preliminary inquiry.”
A case for offences punishable under sections under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC and section 8 (refund of amount paid with interest) of MOFA has been registered.