NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate has apprehended the promoter of a Noida-based real estate firm in a money laundering investigation tied to the alleged cheating of home buyers, officials reported on Saturday.
Satinder Singh Bhasin, director of Bhasin Infotech and Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (BIIPL) and owner of Grand Venice Mall in Greater Noida, was arrested on Friday.
He was presented before a special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, which ordered him to be held in Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody until June 6, as stated by officials.
Authorities have claimed that Bhasin was “evading” summons from the agency and was not “cooperating” with the probe. The Supreme Court had instructed the ED to arrest him on May 15, according to sources.
The money laundering investigation originated from several FIRs filed by Uttar Pradesh Police against BIIPL and related entities, accusing them of fraudulently collecting substantial sums from investors with promises of timely delivery of commercial real estate units that were allegedly never completed.
The investigation revealed that the funds raised from the public were “diverted” and dissipated through a network of group companies and affiliates instead of being allocated to the development of the promised projects, the ED noted.
Last year, the agency provisionally attached a residential property owned by Bhasin in Rajouri Garden, West Delhi, valued at approximately Rs 44.06 crore.
