Noida seeks ED help to recover ₹193 crore dues from Lotus 300 promoter
The Noida authority said on Thursday that it has written to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the directors of Hacienda Project Private Limited (HPPL), the developer of the Lotus 300 housing project in Noida’s Sector 107 in connection with a money laundering case, and sought the agency’s help to recover its ₹193.93 crore land cost dues from the realty group.
₹42 crore in cash, gold, and diamond jewellery from locations linked to former Noida authority CEO Mohinder Singh and the project developers. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)” title=”The ED’s Lucknow unit conducted raids on September 18-19, seizing over ₹42 crore in cash, gold, and diamond jewellery from locations linked to former Noida authority CEO Mohinder Singh and the project developers. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)” />“The authority has sought the assistance of the ED in order to recover ₹191.93 crore land cost dues from the promoters of the Lotus 300 project in Sector 107. We have sent a letter to the ED’s Lucknow regional office urging them to recover or seize the dues and deposit the amount with us,” said Lokesh M, chief executive officer, Noida authority.
The ED’s Lucknow unit conducted raids on September 18-19, seizing over ₹42 crore in cash, gold, and diamond jewellery from locations linked to former Noida authority CEO Mohinder Singh and the project developers.
The case pertains to a 16 acre group housing plot in Sector 107, alloted to Hacienda Project Private Limited (HPPL) for a group housing project in 2010.
The directors of HPPL resigned by 2015 and new directors took over, said officials. Later, the former promoters filed a petition before the Allahabad high court challenging a 2019 recovery certificate issued by the Noida authority.
In February 2024, the Allahabad high court directed ED to investigate allegations of money laundering and siphoning off of ₹430 crore allegedly by its promoters, invested by homebuyers in Lotus 300 project.
The court directed the former directors to cooperate with the investigation and authorised the ED to take legal action if they failed to do so.
The ED raids were conducted at a total of 18 locations in Delhi, Noida, Meerut, Chandigarh, and Goa, in the offices and housing projects of realty firm HPPL and its related firms.
The ED also carried out search operations at the residences and offices of Mohinder Singh, who remained chairman and CEO of the Noida authority during the allotment of this group housing plot, said officials.
The ED intensified its search operations after the Supreme Court on September 3, 2024, modified its June 11, 2024 order that stayed the ED from probing the Lotus 300 promoters. The top court kept the stay on the ED probe intact, but allowed other legal actions related to the case to proceed.
The ED’s investigation established that funds collected from homebuyers were misused and diverted to several other firms.
The ED found out that the initial directors or their proxies were appointed as directors of these companies to defraud homebuyers.
The ED also found that the directors formed multiple shell companies to launder funds and misappropriated ₹65 crore loan from IndusInd Bank, which was obtained in the name of building the group housing project.
The promoters of realty firm and Mohinder Singh were unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts.
