Properties of Emaar, MGF worth ₹834 crore attached by ED

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached immovable properties of Emaar India Ltd and MGF Developments Ltd spanning over 401 acres and valued at ₹834.03 crore.

While Emaar India’s attached properties are valued at ₹501.13 crore, MGF Developments’ properties are valued at ₹332.69 crore. The properties attached are in the form of land, located in 20 villages of Gurugram, Haryana and Delhi.

Both Emaar India and MGF Developments are being investigated for money laundering in connection with a licence obtained from DTCP ( Department of Town and Country Planning) for Residential Plotted Colony falling in Sector-65 and 66 of Gurgaon, the probe agency says.

ED initiated an investigation based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under various sections of IPC, 1860 and Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the then Chief Minister of Haryana, Trilok Chand Gupta, then Director, DTCP, Emaar MGF Land and 14 other coloniser companies.

“The case involves cheating various landowners, the public at large, and the state of Haryana/HUDA, by getting issued notification under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (LA Act) and subsequently under section 6 of LA Act for the acquisition of lands of respective landowners which compelled landowners to sell their land to said coloniser companies at a lower price than the prevailing price,” the ED says.

“Additionally, they fraudulently and dishonestly obtained Letter of Intents (LOIs)/licences on the notified land, causing loss to the respective landowners, the public at large, and the state of Haryana/HUDA, while wrongfully gaining for themselves,” the probe agency says.

In 2009, the Government of Haryana issued a notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act on 1417.07 acres of land comprising Sectors 58 to 63 and 65 to 67 of Gurugram. Subsequently, notification under Section 6 was imposed on approximately 850.10 acres of land out of 1417.07 acres of land on May 31, 2010. Therefore during the period from June 2, 2009 to May 31, 2010, nearly 600 acres of land were released in patches from acquisition proceedings by the Government of Haryana for grant of LOIs/licences.

ED investigation revealed that Emaar MGF Land Ltd had executed six development agreements with farmers for land measuring 27.306 acres claiming that the said development agreements were executed in April 2009 but in reality, they were executed in March 2010, the probe agency says.

“Investigation further revealed that the so-called collaboration agreements were ante-dated and fabricated and wrongly shown to have been entered into before the notification u/s 4 was issued to avoid any complications in getting the license from the DTCP,” it says.

Thus, Emaar MGF Land generated proceeds of crime in the form of a license on land measuring 25.887 acres having a present value of ₹1229.17 crore, the ED alleges.

“ED investigation has revealed that acquisition of land for HUDA was never the real intent. It was only a scheme so that farmers who may or may not have sold their lands to builders otherwise, were forced to give it to builders under the disguise of one or other agreement due to impending fear of acquisition proceedings,” it says.

Later on, Emaar MGF Land was split into Emaar India and MGF Developments having 60.11% and 39.89% share in combined properties.