Bengaluru: A realtor was arrested on Monday for cheating the members of a housing society of Rs 23 crore. The suspect has been identified as K V Venkatesh, 54, a resident of Hosahatti Layout, Sahakaranagar, Kodigehalli, and proprietor of Sri Venkateshwara Real Estate and Builders (SVREB).
“We arrested him based on a complaint filed by Riyaz Ahamad, 51, a resident of Pillanna Garden, on November 19, with the Bagalur police. Ahamad stated in his complaint that Venkatesh collected a few crores of rupees from the members of Karnataka Legislative Council Secretariat Employees’ Welfare Forum and Housing Forum (KLCSEWFH) and the public in 2005, promising to form a layout and distributing sites to them. But, he never kept the promise,” said DCP (Northeast) Vikash Kumar Vikash.
“We have unearthed cheating of around Rs 13 crore. We have collected details of 28 bank accounts of Venkatesh and have continued the probe. There are hundreds of other people who still await registration of the sites and hence, the total amount of cheating may go up,” he said.
“There are more than 116 warrants pending against Venkatesh in the last one year. Most of them pertain to cheque bounce cases. He is also one of the accused in a case registered under the Prevention of Atrocity Act.”
According to the police, employees of the Legislative Council secretariat formed KLCSEWFH on June 20, 2005, decided to buy a piece of land for a layout and distribute sites to the association members and the public. The KLCSEWFH entered into an understanding with SVREB for the purpose of formation of layout and distribution of sites. The amount collected by KLCSEWFH till the date of the agreement was handed over to Venkatesh to begin the work. He collected Rs 23 crore for 396 sites from more than 350 members and promised sites in the upcoming layout near Marenahalli Road, the police said.
He initially showed a piece of land near Bagalur Huvinayakanahalli to the members of KLCSEWFH and promised a layout there, named Vayuja Council Garden. The groundbreaking ceremony for the layout took place on December 16, 2006, but within a few days, KIADB announced the acquisition of the land for an industrial area. Hence, he put forth the idea of shifting the layout plan to Chaglet-Marenahalli Road, said the police.
Venkatesh never carried out any work as promised. He started the registration of sites for all those members who paid the full amount after they demanded distribution of sites. He completed the registration based on false documents. Most of them have false sale deeds registered between 2011 and 2013, but without the presence of any physical land. The remaining members have either filed cases in the consumer forum or the cheques they were given have bounced, the police said.
