ED conducts searches against realty groups in Delhi-NCR

New Delhi, Feb 27 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on February 27 searched multiple premises of two real estate companies and their promoters in Delhi-NCR as part of a money laundering investigation linked to alleged fraud with homebuyers, officials said.

The action is being taken against WTC Builder, its promoter Ashish Bhalla and the Bhutani Group, among others, they said.

The Gurugram office of the ED raided about a dozen locations in Delhi, Noida (Uttar Pradesh), and Faridabad and Gurugram (Haryana) under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

While WTC Builder could not be contacted immediately, a response from the Bhutani Group was awaited at the time of filing this story.

The money laundering probe stems from FIRs filed by Faridabad police and Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing against WTC Builder, Bhalla and the Bhutani Group, the officials said.

The WTC group has multiple projects in Faridabad, Noida and some other locations. It is alleged that the group has collected more than ₹1,000 crore from investors but has not delivered projects to them for the last 10-12 years, the officials said.