Delhi court sends former Jaypee Infratech MD to 5-day ED custody

New Delhi, Nov 12 (PTI) A Delhi court on Thursday sent former MD of Jaypee Infratech Ltd Manoj Gaur, who has been arrested in a money laundering case, to five-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate.

Gaur, who was arrested by the agency earlier in the day in the case linked to a Rs 14,599 crore "fraud" with homebuyers, was produced before Additional Sessions Judge Dhirendra Rana.

The agency sought seven-day custody of Gaur, arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED alleged that the funds collected from thousands of homebuyers for the construction and completion of residential projects were diverted for purposes other than construction, defrauding the buyers and leaving their projects incomplete.

During the proceedings, ED counsel Atul Tripathi said two companies, Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) and Jaypee Infratech Ltd (JIL), collected over Rs 33,000 crore for the construction and completion of residential projects in Jaypee Wishtown and Jaypee Greens Noida and Greater Noida, respectively. However, around Rs 13,000 crore was diverted for other purposes.

"We found several transactions where your (Gaur's) involvement was found. We are duty-bound to investigate the matter. We have to confront all the documents. He is one of the key people in all the companies. To complete our investigation, we are demanding seven days of custody," Tripathi said.

Gaur's advocate, Farukh Khan, opposed the agency's plea, saying his client has submitted all documents, cooperated with the agency and answered all questions.

He said Gaur, 61, suffers from diabetes and asthma, and his statement regarding the allegations was recorded by the ED in 2021.

The ED launched the investigation against the Jaypee Group based on multiple FIRs registered by the Economic Offences Wings (EOW) of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh police, based on complaints filed by homebuyers of Jaypee Wishtown and Jaypee Greens projects, alleging criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal breach of trust against the company and its promoters.

On May 23, the agency conducted searches at 15 locations in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad and Mumbai, including the offices and premises of Jaiprakash Associates Ltd. and Jaypee Infratech Ltd.

"The ED investigation revealed that out of approximately Rs 14,599 crore collected by JAL and JIL from homebuyers (as per claims admitted by NCLT), substantial amounts were diverted for non-construction purposes and siphoned off to related group entities and trusts, including Jaypee Sewa Sansthan (JSS), M/s Jaypee Healthcare Ltd. (JHL), and M/s Jaypee Sports International Ltd. (JSIL)," the agency said. PTI MNR SKM DIV DIV