Danger of Bhagtani's "Private Sale" Proposal for Serenity
Mumbai, 18th January, 2018: Serenity is possibly the only project that has some genuine property value. Remember, Serenity
project (and not just land) was mortgaged to Xander. Although
they don't have registered agreements, allottees are an integral part
of the project; without allottees, Serenity is just empty
land. Xander is stuck with allottees that come along with the land, because it can only take over the project, and not the vacant land.
Read the relevant part of Xander's public notice to fully understand this:
Read the relevant part of Xander's public notice to fully understand this:
If Xander tries to dispossess the allotees of their rights, Bhagtani's bad reputation will rub off on it. On
the other hand, if Xander completes the project to give flats or
repayment to the allottees, it will earn great goodwill and probably decent profits also. Maharashtra
government or MCGM can be persuaded to sweeten the deal with concessions
in FSI, TDR. BJP and Sena can win over the vote-banks ahead of
the 2019 elections, and everybody, including allotees, get to go home happy.
This is a doable deal, especially if RERA plays a proper role.
This is a doable deal, especially if RERA plays a proper role.
But Bhagtani's agents are trying for a different sort of deal. Allotees are being called individually or in small groups for a confidential meeting. They are told that police and courts cannot help them, and therefore they must accept the terms proposed in the minutes-of-meeting of 16th December, 2017 at Rang Sharda.
Terms proposed by Bhagtani:
a) Don't initiate any new proceedings in judicial forums for at least six months.
b) Withdraw your complaints and proceedings.
c) Sign No Objection Certificate for sale of Serenity project to a builder whose name is not disclosed. Property papers are not disclosed. Terms of the transaction are also not disclosed. Nothing is disclosed, nothing can be disclosed. But you have to sign.
d) Have faith. Don't lose faith in Bhagtanis, who are basically kind and loyal people who reward those who trust them.
In the ongoing game of chor-police, Bhagtanis and their agents are begging you to say "time-please" for six months, during which the flat-buyers, enforcement agencies and judiciary will stop chasing them. To spread this message and convince people, Bhagtanis are trying to recruit all kinds of people including EOW officers, lawyers and WhatsApp group admins as their agents. If you say time-please, Diipesh Bhagtani will sell everything at raddi prices, transfer the money abroad and disappear over the Nepal border.
It
is crucial to remember that Bhagtanis are no longer in a proper legal position
to dispose off any assets in India because they are persona non-grata in the eyes of law. Recent transactions, such as sale of
their house to in-laws, are likely to be reversed by the authorities, and such properties are likely to
be seized. Transfer of Bhagtani Horizon to Tejas Vyas of Tarun Bharati / Oyster was one such shady
dealing, but the cooperative housing society called off the deal with both Bhagtani and Tarun Vyas. Today's Times Of India page 8 has this public notice.
After you read this notice, please get it into your mind that there is no quick and easy "private exit" from your situation. Whether you like it or not, the only exit for you will come from judiciary, competent authorities and enforcement agencies. Yes, they may be inefficient and corrupt, but they are still better than any private schemes such as the one that Bhagtanis are proposing. The only way for fund recovery is that Bhagtani properties will have
to be seized and sold/auctioned by authorities. Admittedly, this path is difficult and full of loopholes, but even so, this is the proper way.
Possible shortcuts under RERA
For
the flat-buyers of Serenity, RERA holds out hope in two directions. The
fact that Bhagtani had title over this land (unlike the land of Riyo,
Sapphire and Savannah) and the fact that he mortgaged it to Xander
Finance, create two shortcuts for the flat-buyers.
SHORTCUT
NO. 1: MahaRERA can be moved to take over the project under Section 8,
which says, "Upon
lapse of the registration or on revocation of the registration under
this Act, the Authority, may consult the appropriate Government to take
such action as it may deem fit including the carrying out of the
remaining development works by competent authority or by the association
of allottees or in any other manner, as may be determined by the
Authority". In that eventuality, the association of allottees will have
to repay Xander from the receivables of the project, and recover their
dues by either taking possession of newly constructed flats, or selling
them to others.
SHORTCUT NO. 2: Flat-buyers can ask
RERA to recognize Xander Finance as a co-promoter (because it has lien
over the project), and direct Xander to enter into registered agreements
with them, recognizing them as allottees. Since Bhagtani is unable to
repay Xander's project loan of Rs 14 cr, Xander may step into Bhagtani's
shoes as promoter and either complete the project, or sell it to a
decent builder, who will inherit Xander's registered agreements with
allottees.
Even if both these RERA approaches fail to take off, there are some other judicial solutions that the flat-buyers of Serenity can pursue. The important thing at this moment is to prevent Bhagtani from brainwashing you and using you for his purpose.
A way to cut the bullshit
If you go to such a meeting, ask for copies of the following documents:
1) Tripartite agreement between Bhagtani, Xander and the new builder
2) Audited balance sheet of the new builder for the last three years
3) Allotment letter on the new builder's letterhead
If these three documents are provided to you, take them home and study them. Consult with lawyers and friends, and if they seem to be in order, then and only then, consider signing... but only at the bottom of the allotment letter. If their offer is genuine, they should be willing to give you these documents, and take your acceptance of the new allotment letter as your NOC, right? But be sure, they will never, never do it; they will want you to blindly sign without giving you anything except empty promises and assurances.
SO PLEASE DON'T SIGN. If you sign, it is as good as giving Diipesh Bhagtani written permission to take all your hard-earned money and run away, and live happily ever after in the lap of luxury.
SO PLEASE DON'T SIGN. If you sign, it is as good as giving Diipesh Bhagtani written permission to take all your hard-earned money and run away, and live happily ever after in the lap of luxury.
ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY
Krishnaraj Rao9821588114
krish.kkphoto@gmail
Plot by bhagtanis to take away your "serenity"
ReplyDeleteKrish sir, this post is very insightful. Your Blog has served as a medium for aggrieved investors to communicate with the Bhagtanis through their 'Iamcool' and 'Iamacheater' aliases, although we may not hear from them unless EOW officers allow Dipesh to use his phone in jail.
ReplyDeleteI do have a question for you, Dipesh has surrendered his passport to EOW, how can he get to other countries, like you mention he can walk to Nepal, but, from there, where does he go?
Unless he bribes the EOW officer to return his passport, he cannot get to London or to Dubai where his family is. Maybe ISI agents smuggle him out of Nepal with fake Pakistani passport as some agents have indicated that his father is in touch with Pakistani agents and authorities.
Whereever they land, this family is one that is born and bred in crime, they will fall back to their old ways and come up with other such schemes to cheat the locals either the Londoners, Pakistanis or Arabs and fate will catch up with them there in due course. Like they say: you can run but you cannot hide.
It would also be difficult for someone with Dipesh's bulk & girth & Mukesh's ladylike manners to blend in with the locals, they would both stick out like sore thumbs!
But, one should never underestimate criminal minds that cook up such crooked schemes, as we have been taught time and again over the course of the struggle never to underestimate the Bhagtanis.
They are the opposite of the Lanisters and their reputation precedes them: A Bhagtani never pays his bills.
I think people can get fake passports, and/or manage to get smuggled across borders. I doubt that bit about Pakistani connections and ISI agents, though.
DeleteFor printing fake allotment letters and creating fake property papers getting fake passports should not be a problem.
DeleteWho do you think is doing the dirty work for Bhagtanis at this point, setting up these meetings etc? I had visited office earlier this week and there were no employees there, just some workers packing up and moving items, it looked like there were shutting down shop, so if no one is on their payroll, who is co-ordinating these activities?
Also, Krish sir, how would Lakshman & Mukesh continue to live in Dubai without permanent residency permits?
Hi LL. Your query: "I had visited office earlier this week and there were no employees there, just some workers packing up and moving items, it looked like there were shutting down shop, so if no one is on their payroll, who is co-ordinating these activities?"
DeleteMy answer: Key employees, who know too much about the Bhagtani operations, are probably continuing on their payroll; they are like members of a gang rather than just employees. Mafia bosses can't disband their gangs when they get into police trouble; in fact, that is the time the gang members are most needed!
Your query: "how would Lakshman & Mukesh continue to live in Dubai without permanent residency permits?"
My answer: I don't know, you guys educate me on this.
One would imagine that the Bhagtanis could have gone the route that most Indians to UAE take, get an employer to sponsor their visa, employer impounds their passport and they work to the employer's will who then releases their passport once the 'conditions of their employment are fulfilled'. But, we know the Bhagtanis do not have a single honest bone in their body.
ReplyDeleteI would speculate the more like route, is that this 'employer' is one of their money laundering friend who has setup a shell company in Dubai and has 'sponsored' an employment visa for these crooks.
Alternately, ine can get a Dubai investor visa for AED 10,000 - 15,000 and live in Dubai for a couple of years.
As far as the Employees go, I am certain that some of these lowlives are on the Bhagatnis take as they still need eyes and ears in most buyer groups to know what is coming their way next and prepare for it.
The biggest conundrum for me is what have the Bhagtanis done with all the funds they have collected. I heard from agents that the police raids did not produce much, so, where has all the money gone? In our meetings with them Bhagtanis claimed that the money was locked up in land, but, we know now that this is not the case, they barely own any land, the only one they own: Serenity, they reverse mortgaged to pull out their cash. So, where has all the money disappeared?
Krish sir could you please do an article on where the money trail might lead to, what are all the possible places where the money has gone.
God Bless you sir for your Good Work!