The FIR registered on 8 February 2021 against Gupta, his company and seven other associates, has been filed on the basis of complaint filed by Emaar India on 30 July 2020, for offences under sections 409, 415, 418, 420, 423, 468, 471 and others.  

 

As per the FIR, the police will conduct detailed investigation for also cheating Haryana Government officials at Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP), for unfair transfer of land parcels through forged documents and misrepresentation. 

 

Noting the details of the genesis of the conspiracy, the FIR says, “Mr. Shravan Gupta hatched a conspiracy… to dishonestly transfer the Sector 61 land from Active and Sidhivinayak (Emaar India subsidiaries) to his own company namely Kayo.  Consequently Mr. Shravan Gupta in furtherance of this conspiracy… vide two separate sale deeds... sold the sector 61 land for a mere consideration of Rs 3.18 crores… even though the said land was worth Rs 182.48 crores”. 

 

It says, that in connivance with his associates, he fraudulently fabricated a letter, and submitted it to DTCP, seeking the transfer of license of land parcel to his firm Kayo.  DTCP however rejected the request in 2017, citing that the license was held by Emaar India and its subsidiaries, the FIR said. 

 

Adding that the rejection did not deter Shravan Gupta and associates, and they became more brazen in illegal acts.  “They fraudulently and with dishonest intention wrote several letters… and other supporting documents containing fraudulent misrepresentations to the office of DTCP in order to fraudulently transfer the license”, notes the FIR.  This included misrepresentation of the ‘order of demerger’ to the office of DTCP.  

 

With these fabricated documents, Shravan Gupta and associates managed to induce DTCP officials to transfer the license of the land parcel to a 100% subsidiary of MGF Development Ltd (Kayo).  

 

Emaar India in its complaint has noted that with this fraudulent act, Shravan Gupta breached the trust imposed upon him, and along with associates, conspired to wrongful personal gains by causing loss to Emaar India to the tune of Rs 179.30 crores, in one transaction.

 

In its complaint, Emaar India has also raised apprehensions that the accused will tamper with the evidence available at the offices of the DTCP, and sought for taking necessary action. 

 

In a similar case, the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police is carrying out investigation in another FIR dated 13 August 2020 against Shravan Gupta and associates for cheating and forgery, following a complaint by Emaar India alleging forgery to cause it losses of over Rs 3.5 crores. 

 

Emaar has sought compensation of Rs. 2,400 crores and a detailed investigation from NCLT into the fraudulent and illegal acts of Shravan Gupta, his wife Shilpa Gupta, MGF and associates in breach of fiduciary responsibility and trust imposed by the Dubai-based realty giant in the joint venture Emaar MGF Limited. Emaar has also sought a bank guarantee of minimum Rs 2,400 crores to secure its losses.

 

In another criminal matter filed against Shravan Gupta, the Indian government’s financial investigative agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) has accused Shravan Gupta of money laundering regarding the Rs 3,600 crore AugustaWestland VVIP Chopper deal.  Recently, a Delhi Court refused to cancel a non-bailable warrant against MGF’s Chairman, Shravan Gupta.  Enforcement Directorate had submitted that the Shravan Gupta, Chairman MGF Development had failed to join the investigation despite issuing nine summons, which led to issuance of Non-Bailable Warrant against him.  

Background: 

Emaar India (previously known as Emaar MGF Land Ltd) was a joint venture between Dubai-based Emaar and Shravan Gupta owned MGF Development Limited for the duration 2005-2016.  Now it is a fully-controlled subsidiary of Emaar Properties PJSC.

 

Emaar Properties, one of the world’s leading real estate developers, entered the Indian real estate market by investing about Rs 7000 crores in a joint venture with Shravan Gupta owned and controlled MGF Development in the year 2005.  The two partners parted way in 2016 through a demerger process by way of court of law. 

 

After the demerger, Emaar took complete control of the operations of Emaar MGF Land Limited. Subsequently, the name of the Indian entity has been changed to Emaar India Limited with effect of 7 October 2020.