RERA Orders Fraudster To Return Money With Interest
Telangana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) has ordered a refund of Rs 9 lakh with interest to a man who was tricked into buying a plot in a real estate venture, Kaasvi E-City. The authority also fined the seller Rs 4 lakh for cheating the buyer and using false information.
Hyderabad: The Telangana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) has ordered a refund of `9 lakh with interest to a man who was tricked into buying a plot in a real estate venture, Kaasvi E-City. The authority also fined the seller Rs 4 lakh for cheating the buyer and using false information.
The complainant, Madikonda Mallesh, a government employee, said that Kethavath Nagesh Nayak, who claimed to be a developer with Roy All Diamond Infra Developers, offered to sell him a 150-square-yard plot for Rs 36 lakh at Ibrahimpatnam.
Mallesh paid Rs 9 lakh as advance in several instalments. He later found out that the land did not belong to Nayak and was owned by Suvarna Lakshmi Developers.
He also discovered that the RERA registration number printed on the brochure was fake. When he tried to contact Nayak, he had become unreachable.
Despite receiving RERA notices, Nayak did not attend the hearings. RERA declared him ex parte (absent without explanation) and continued the case based on Mallesh’s documents.
The authority found that Nayak had falsely claimed to be the owner, collected money, and entered into a sale agreement without any legal right over the land. It stated that even though Nayak was not a registered builder, he acted like one and was therefore responsible under the Real Estate Act.
Since he could not legally sell the plot, the agreement was cancelled, and the authority ordered a full refund of Rs 9 lakh with 11 per cent annual interest, starting from the dates of payment.
RERA has asked its secretary to conduct a detailed inquiry to determine how Nayak could offer to sell land under the name of Kaasvi E-City. A notice will be sent to the actual developers to explain whether they had given him permission or were aware of his actions. The case has now been closed with directions to refund the buyer and investigate the matter further.