In a major crackdown on real estate fraud, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached properties and assets worth a staggering ₹589.46 crore. This action targets ADEL Landmarks Limited, formerly known as Era Land Mark, its promoters, and associate companies for allegedly duping thousands of homebuyers in the National Capital Region.
Court-Ordered Action Across Two States
The federal agency's Gurugram unit carried out the extensive attachment operation on Saturday. This followed specific orders issued on Friday by a Special PMLA court presided over by Judge Vani Gopal. The attached assets are not just company-owned properties but also include personal assets of the accused directors, Hem Singh Bharana and Sumit Bharana.
The seized properties span approximately 340 acres of land across multiple locations. In Haryana, the land is situated in Gurugram, Faridabad, Palwal, and Bahadurgarh. The action also covers properties in the Uttar Pradesh districts of Meerut and Ghaziabad. All these assets are owned by ADEL Landmarks Ltd and its network of associated or subsidiary companies.
A Trail of Broken Promises and Diverted Funds
The ED's investigation stemmed from a foundation of 74 separate FIRs and chargesheets filed by the Haryana Police, Delhi Police, and Delhi's Economic Offences Wing (EOW). The core allegation is that ADEL Landmarks and its promoters systematically cheated homebuyers by failing to deliver promised flats and residential units.
Despite collecting massive advance payments, the company left projects incomplete for 12 to 19 years. The ED probe revealed that ADEL Landmarks launched eight residential group housing projects between 2006 and 2012. These projects, which remain unfinished to this day, include:
- Cosmocourt
- Cosmocity-I
- Cosmocity-III
- Skyville
- Redwood Residency
- Era Green World
- Era Divine Court
- ADEL Divine Court
From these projects, the company collected approximately Rs 1,075 crore as advance booking amounts from 4,771 customers.
The Crux of the Fraud: Fund Diversion
The investigation uncovered a critical pattern of financial misconduct. Instead of using the massive funds collected from homebuyers to complete the housing projects, the promoters and directors diverted substantial amounts to their group companies. This money was shown as advances for purchasing land parcels and for other unspecified purposes.
This deliberate diversion of project funds directly resulted in the stalling of construction and the ultimate non-delivery of flats and plots to thousands of families. To add insult to injury, when aggrieved customers sought refunds due to the indefinite delays, the company issued cheques that were often dishonoured, leaving buyers in a financial lurch.
The latest attachment of assets worth nearly ₹590 crore marks a significant step in the legal process to recover the defrauded money and provide some recourse to the cheated homebuyers who have waited for their homes for nearly two decades.
