Housing scam: Even the complainant has shady past!

Fortyfiveyearold Vijay Vinod Gotmare a complainant in one of the three FIRs registered by the Virar police against bogus builders last week after the multicrore housing scam was exposed was himself arrested in 2016 in connection with a similar crime Previously Gotmare was attached to the property tax department but for the past one year he has been working as a senior clerk in the encroachment department of the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation VVCMCThe Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority has begun the process of cancelling RERA registration of all 55 buildings after receiving letters and FIRs from the Virar police The Rs 3000crore scam was possible due to lack of communication and procedures between MahaRERA and the VasaiVirar City Municipal Corporation VVCMC officials told middayNow the owners have been barred from reselling their litigated homes which the VVCMC plans to raze soonPrashant Patil the mastermind of the R3000cr housing scam right coaccused Dilip Benvanshi who submitted 14 fake documents to MahaRERA for approval to sell flats PicsHanif PatelA police source said that the mastermind Prashant Patil knew that the online process to seek MahaRERA approval did not involve verification of documents submitted by the buildersPatil was also aware of the lack of communication between MahaRERA and VVCMC officials to verify commencement certificates CC and approved government agency documents submitted by buildersHe took advantage of these loopholes in the online system and deceived thousands of familiesAccording to the police the scam came to light in July this year after Patil sold a flat in Rudransh Apartments at Kopri Village in Virar East to two individuals The victims approached the police who filed an FIRRudransh the first of the 55 complexes was built on the land belonging to Patilrsquos coaccused Dilip Kailash Benvanshi who submitted around 14 fake documents to MahaRERA to obtain a RERA number to sell flats Patil approached Benvanshi in 201213 to construct the building and they forged 14 government documents with the help of other accused individuals These fake documents included legal title reports encumbrances mortgage or other claims on property or assets layout approvals building plans NA orders for plotted development CC declarations affidavits architectrsquos certificates of completion of work engineer certificates of project cost and quality assurance certificates and Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India CERSAI assetsbased search reportsAccording to the rules builders cannot sell flats or advertise them without a MahaRERAissued numberThe accused uploaded all fake documents on the MahaRERA website to obtain approval to sell flats in Rudransh Apartments MahaRERA didnrsquot verify the documents because they lacked procedures or communication with the VVCMC according to sourcesRudransh Apartments was issued a RERA number on February 2 2022 Using the RERA number the accused approached banks for loans to buyersTaking advantage of this loophole Patil and gang continued to use fake documents and secured MahaRERA approval to 54 other buildings as wellMeanwhile buyers invested their money as they were assured by the RERA approvalMahaRERA officials agreed that there is a ldquolack of connectivity and communicationrdquo to crossverify the documents ldquosupposedly issued by government agenciesrdquoldquoFor this reason 65 builders from the KalyanDombivli area deceived us last year by uploading fake documents and obtaining RERA certificates We have cancelled their RERA registrations Thereafter MahaRERArsquos registration process was stopped in Marchrdquo an official told middayldquoNow to prevent such frauds in the future the registration of new construction projects began on June 19 following the verification of CC sent to designated email addresses of the respective municipal corporation as per government guidelines But the integration of local government agencies with the MahaRERA is not yet completerdquo the official saidldquoMahaRERA will ensure the authenticity of documents before project registration For this purpose all local government agencies should place these permissions on the MahaRERA websitewe have created special email IDs for the municipal corporations across Maharashtra which will verify the documents This decision was announced by the central government on February 23 2023ldquoIt is expected that local government agencies will also coordinate the issuance of occupation certificates OC along with the CCrdquo the official saidThe official added ldquoWe are gathering details of the 55 buildings from the VVCMC and will take appropriate action Our regulatory body has also initiated an investigation into this matterrdquoJune 19Day MahaRERA started elaborate process of registration