The Cyberabad Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Friday arrested two men for a real estate fraud where eight persons were conned to the tune of ₹3.56 crore.
The suspects have been identified as Tammineedi Sri Venkata Ramana Prasad, the managing director, and Kosaraju Venkata Ratnam, marketing agent of JJ Infra India Pvt Ltd in Madhapur.
Investigation is underway to identify all the 10-15 victims while the defrauded amount can go up to ₹7 crore, said S Ravinder, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad EOW.
Interestingly, the suspects have been involved in similar frauds under different company names including JJ Infra India Pvt Ltd, Tarini Avenues LLP among others since 2012.
“They employed various channels, including telecalling, newspaper advertisements and attractive brochures, falsely representing ownership of lucrative properties to entice potential investors. Despite not having any legal rights over the property, they showed open lands in prime localities to the victims with a promise to complete the project within three years. They offered commercial space at ₹10,000 per square feet and promised a monthly rent of ₹100 per square feet,” the official said.
According to the officials, as part of the scam, they even promised to double the amount in 30 months on their investment and made false agreements as collateral security for investments in Maheshwaram open plots, agricultural lands at Amangal, and opposite landmarks in Gachibowli and Hitex after which the company became unresponsive.
Payments were primarily demanded in cash with receipts issued under different company and also involved issuing of bounced cheques and falsifying ownership documents, MoUs, and receipts.
The EOW have filed the case under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery and of valuable security and will), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (Using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 5 of the Telangana Protection of Depositors of Financial Establishments Act (TPDFEA), 1999 while investigation is underway to trace and map more suspects and victims connected with this scam.
