How Amrapali diverted home buyers' money showing peons, drivers as owners

New Delhi: A forensic audit of the embattled Amrapali Group has found that posh flats were booked on sums as low as Re 1, Rs. 5 and Rs. 11 per square feet in the name of over 500 people, court-appointed auditors told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The audit found that 23 companies were floated in the name of office boys, peons and drivers and these firms were part of Amrapali consortium and were made fronts to divert home buyers’ money.

The two forensic auditors told the top court that they have issued notices to 655 people on whose names “benami” flats were booked but no one was found in 122 such locations.

The interim report of forensic auditors which was submitted before a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and UU Lalit said that chief financial officer (CFO) Chander Wadhwa transferred Rs. 4.75 crore to “unidentified persons” just three days before he deposed before the top court on October 26 last year.

“He (Wadhwa) had in his account Rs. 12 crore till March 2018. Then he had transferred Rs. 1 crore in the name of his wife. Just three days before he appeared in the court for the first time on October 26, 2018, he had transferred Rs. 4.75 crore to some unidentified persons,” forensic auditor Pawan Kumar Agarwal told the Supreme Court.

The court pulled up Wadhwa and warned him of contempt action. “You (Wadhwa) are putting spoke in the wheels of justice. You very well knew that questions will be asked by the court and hence you transferred the money. We want the entire tranche of money back in seven days time. You had no business to transfer the money on October 23, 2018. You have obstructed the course of justice and we may haul you up for contempt of court,” the bench said.

The court also asked the forensic auditors to produce the orders of income tax department which during its search and seizure conducted in 2013-14 had recovered Rs. 200 crore bogus bills and vouchers besides Rs. 1 crore from Amrapali Group CMD Anil Kumar Sharma and Rs. 1 crore from director Shiv Priya.

Another forensic auditor Ravi Bhatia told the court that Amrapali Group had appealed against the IT order which had deleted the paragraph which mentioned of Rs. 200 bogus bills and vouchers raised on account of purchase of raw material.

“You submit us both the orders of IT department and the appellate authority. We would like to see them,” the bench said.

The forensic auditors also said shares purchased and agreement of JP Morgan Real Estate fund and Amrapali Group were in violation of the provisions of law.