Pre-launch offer scam: NSV Infra halts Pragathi Nagar project, sells to new developer

Hyderabad: G Kishore Kumar (name changed), lost his savings of lakhs of rupees in his quest to realise his dream of owning a house. He is a victim of a pre-launch offer scam by NSV Infra developers (Ganesh developers) at Pragathi Nagar in the city.

The predicament of those deceived by builders and well-known real estate firms in Hyderabad under the pretence of pre-launch offer scams has been covered by NewsMeter for the past few days. Kishore Kumar, who owns a vehicle business in Pragathi Nagar, was one of them. He told NewsMeter that he learned about the residential apartments in his locality project from a relative.

Builder sold land to another builder without consultation

“I paid Rs 18.50 lakhs to NSV Infra developers in January 2021 to acquire a 1,700 square foot flat in their Pragathi Nagar project. The builder said that the housing project, which has an estimated total cost of Rs 5 crores, will be finished in a year after the money was invested. Like me, another 19 people contributed because they trusted his word. However, the builder abruptly halted the project in June, citing a number of reasons,” Kishore Kumar said.

Kishore Kumar said that the builder did not make any agreement with the buyers after investing the amount, instead giving only written documents about the project completion.

“After pressurising the builder to return the invested amount, he paid Rs 4 lakhs to me out of the total Rs 18.5 lakhs invested, when I was hospitalised due to Covid-19. On several occasions, I urged him to return the balance amount as the project halted abruptly. A few months later, I came to know that the builder had sold the property to another developer who began his project on the same site where we all invested,” he said.

Victims worried about police intervention

When questioned about the reasons behind the victims’ failure to report the fraud to the police in time, Kishore Kumar stated that most of the people who had invested in the project were terrified that the police would interfere and that they would never be able to recover their money from the builders.

Nevertheless, he said, all of the victims have chosen to resolve their differences with the builder rather than going to the police to prevent future problems. The NSV Infra developers have also conned a number of people in another project in Patancheru where agreements were made to multiple people for the same flat, he added.

Suvarnabhumi Infra Developers dupe victims in Patancheru

In July 2023, Md Yazdani, a resident of Saidabad, Hyderabad filed a complaint with Central Crime Station, Hyderabad against Suvarnabhumi Infra Developers for duping the public in the pretext of giving high returns in a pre-launch fraud in a housing project.

In her complaint, Yazdani stated that Suvarnabhumi Infra Developers has acquired land measuring Ac 150 guntas in survey no 120/P, 121/P and 125/P in Peddakanjerla Village, Patancheru Mandal, Sangareddy District, Telangana.

They had proposed to develop a layout of open plots in the said land after obtaining necessary approvals from HMDA. Yazdani has seen the advertisement and publicity of the company and approached them with trust in their brand.

Yazdani offered to invest Rs 1.50 crores and in return, they promised to register an extent of 0.2 guntas of the aforementioned land in her name. An unregistered Memorandum of Understanding was entered into between Yazdani and Suvarnabhumi Infra Developers on January 27, 2022.

The terms and conditions mutually agreed upon were that the company would execute a registered sale deed in favour of Yazdani, while she agreed to execute a registered development agreement in favour of their authorised agent/assignee Tattava Developers Pvt Ltd, represented by Rakesh Kumar Chelapareddy.

Suvarnabhumi promised to deliver project in 18 months

According to the MoU, Suvarnabhumi Infra Developers committed to completing the development of the property within 18 months, with an additional grace period of three months from the date of approvals received from the concerned authorities for the proposed layout project.

As per the MoU, Yazdani was entitled to a share of the plot measuring 800 square yards after the layout development. The company agreed to repurchase this plot area for a consideration of Rs 2.25 crores after 18 months, including a grace period of one month.

The agreed amount was to be paid irrespective of the progress or approvals obtained for the property development, as specified in Clause 12 of the MOU. Clause 12a of the MoU mentioned that the company would pay Rs 25 lakhs per month, starting from the 10th month until the 18th month from the execution of the MoU. The company issued several cheques as repayment for the agreed amount, with the relevant details provided by Yazdani.

However, the company failed to fulfil its obligations by not repaying the agreed amount and continuously postponed the payment, citing various reasons.

Company’s cheque returned due to insufficient funds

Consequently, one of the cheques expired. Despite multiple attempts to resolve the matter amicably, the company responded rudely, claiming a lack of funds and refusing to make any payments. Yazdani presented one of the cheques for encashment. However, the cheque was returned due to insufficient funds and a legal notice under Section 138 of the NI Act was sent regarding the matter. Yazdani firmly believed that she had been cheated and defrauded, along with numerous other customers who have fallen victim to the company’s deceitful practices.