The Enforcement Directorate(ED) on Friday attached 33 flats worth Rs 462 crore located in Bandra West, Mumbai, under the Prevention of Money laundering Act (PMlA). These properties belonged to Congress leader and three-time MlA Baba Ziauddin Siddique and real estate company Pyramid Developers.
The case related to alleged use of fake papers for availing extra Floor Space Index (FSI) under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scheme Jamaat-e-Jamhooria, in Bandra. Baba Siddique and the Pyramid Developers have been booked by the ED in a case of fraud related to the slum Redevelopment Scheme at the Bandra Reclamation location. The alleged scam is pegged at Rs 2,000 crore.
“We have attached properties worth Rs 462 crore in Bandra West of Pyramid Developers in a case of fraud related to slum redevelopment scheme against Baba Siddique and others,” an ED official said.
The agency had registered a criminal case under the PMlA in March last year and had conducted searches at multiple locations of the firm and those belonging to Congress leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique. The ED had taken cognisance of a Mumbai police FIR for filing the case under the PMlA. The FIR alleged that the suspected persons cheated the State by preparing false ration cards, photo passes, shop and establishment licences and submitted the same to the SRA to get approval for redevelopment of Jamat-e-Jamhooria CHS limited, located in Mumbai’s Bandra (West).
The bogus documents, ED said, were also used to get extra Floor Space Index (FSI) for wrongful gains. It said the firm--Pyramid Developers-- was appointed as the developer and Ms Neo Modern Architects as the architect for the redevelopment project.
The investigations revealed that a number of violations were committed in the construction of the building by allowing exemptions which were not available to the said project by virtue of it being in the CRZ-II (costal regulation zone) and in effect consuming FSI in excess of permissible limit, which is 1.5 in aggregate, it said. “The enhancement of FSI from 1.5 to 1.875 was only for in situ rehabilitation of slum dwellers and not applicable on developer sale component,” it said.
The agency suspects that the revenue generated by the sale of these super-luxury apartments would have been in the range of Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,000 crore. Siddique, it is alleged who was the chairman of Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) between 2000 and 2004, allegedly misused his position to increase the Floor Service Index (FSI).
ED investigation revealed a number of violations in the construction of the building by allowing exemptions which were otherwise not available to the project. The FSI had exceeded the permissible limit. A no-objection certificate was issued for construction in the area measuring 16,742 square metre, whereas the actual construction was undertaken by showing the plot area as 18,662.70 square metre.
In compliance with the SRA’s directives, the developers approached the Ministry of Environment for clearance of the project. The Ministry accorded clearance on the condition that FSI would not exceed the February 1991 limit. The amendments were made by the in 2007 and 2010.
The agency is investigating if Siddiqui, as Chairman of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) between 2000 and 2004, misused his position to help the firm bag the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) project that was being developed in Bandra. The offence was registered by the Mumbai Police in March 2014.
According to the authorities, the irregularities involved the project being developed by Pyramid Developers at a cost of Rs 90 crore. But, the developer sold the plot to Satra group and the two entered a joint development agreement, involving equal sharing of the flats.
Based on the complaint filed by a resident, Abdul Salaam, in 2012, the Mumbai Police registered a case against Siddique and 150 others for the alleged irregularities in the allotment of houses in the SRA project. The police action was initiated after a Metropolitan Magistrate Court ordered a probe into the case.