The Enforcement Director has arrested Omkar Realtors & Developers’ Chairman Kamal Gupta and Managing Director Babulal Verma in a matter related to alleged irregularities in a Rs 410-crore project loan from Yes Bank against a slum rehabilitation project in central Mumbai.
On Monday, a team of Enforcement Directorate officials had conducted search operations at around ten premises of the developer in connection with a money laundering probe in the Yes Bank alleged bank fraud case.
On Wednesday, both Gupta and Varma were brought to the ED’s office in south Mumbai for questioning related to this matter. The central probe agency has carried out the action under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and will be produced in the court on Thursday.
The developer is alleged to have misused several permissions under the slum rehabilitation authority (SRA) schemes and is alleged to have diverted the funds availed through Yes Bank loan.
“We are emphatic that Omkar Group is not in violation of any lending norms and slum approvals,” Omkar Realtors spokesperson said in response to ET’s query regarding the arrests.
On Monday, the developer had termed the ED’s search operations as a routine enquiry while highlighting that the matter pertains to a writ petition filed by another developer and the same has already been dismissed by the Bombay High Court. It had then stated that the loan was availed under banking guidelines as project loan against sale collaterals and utilised for the stated purpose only.