The Enforcement Directorate (ED) just dropped a bomb.
Promoters of Unitech Group, one of India’s once-famous real estate giants, allegedly took almost ₹7,800 crore—money that came straight from homebuyers and banks—and used it for themselves. The total collected? Around ₹16,000 crore. Nearly half of that cash was never meant for homes. It was moved around in shady ways, ending up in private investments, foreign real estate, and secret bank accounts.
ED made all of this public in a chargesheet filed on July 10 in a Delhi court. This is their third chargesheet in the Unitech case. This time, they’ve gone deep—naming not just company heads, but family members and several business entities connected to the scheme.
Who’s Involved?
Let’s break it down.
The main names here are Ramesh Chandra (founder of Unitech), and his sons Sanjay and Ajay Chandra. Along with them, Preeti Chandra, Ramesh’s daughter-in-law, is also named. The companies under the spotlight include Shivalik Ventures, Auram Asset Management, Unitech Build Tech, and Unitech Golf Resorts.
According to ED, these folks ran a web of shell companies and benami firms to quietly move money around. A lot of it was sent out of India. Some landed in Dubai. Some made its way to places like Singapore and the Cayman Islands. And part of it was brought back into India, dressed up as legitimate business money.
How They Did It
Here’s how the money trail worked.
First, Unitech raised huge sums from people looking to buy homes. The same money was then moved through proxy firms and venture funds that had little to do with real estate. One such fund was called CIG Realty Fund. It sounds legit—but investigators say it was used more as a tool to pull cash out of the main company.
Then came the overseas moves.
Money was routed through the UAE, then filtered through other jurisdictions, and finally came back in through new companies like the Trikar Group. These firms were built just for one reason—hiding the origin of funds. The paper trail was messy on purpose.
And yes—ED says luxury flats in Dubai were bought in this process. Preeti Chandra is believed to have signed off on those.
What ED Has Done So Far
So far, ED has listed 105 names across all chargesheets filed in this case.
They’ve also seized ₹1,621.91 crore worth of assets, including 1,291 properties across India. The total money that passed through the group was a massive ₹16,075.89 crore—of which ₹7,794.35 crore went missing into a black hole of corporate fraud and personal spending.
The investigation started back in 2018, when the CBI and Delhi Police began digging into complaints from angry, cheated homebuyers. ED stepped in after that, and the story kept getting bigger.
What About the Homebuyers?
That’s the worst part of this story.
People poured their life savings into Unitech projects hoping to get a home. Many never got one. Others are still waiting, years later. Their money was used, just not in the way it should have been. And now, with the founders behind bars and projects stalled, there’s a long road ahead.
Some of the seized assets might be sold off to recover money. That could help buyers a little. But it’s still unclear how long it’ll take, or how much they’ll get back.
Where This Is Headed
This case is big. It’s messy. And it’s far from over.
The court will now look at the charges and decide if the accused will face full trial. If found guilty, the promoters could face serious jail time. That won’t bring back the lost years or the money for homebuyers—but it might bring some accountability.
For now, ED’s message is loud and clear: real estate scams won’t be brushed under the carpet anymore.
Stay with moneyphobia.in for updates on this case and more real estate news that affects your money.
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