Here is a man accused of duping thousands of Bengalureans with the promise of their dream homes. Sachin Naik alias Sumanth Kumar Das alias Yogesh Choudhary is facing charges of swindling hundreds of people of Rs 1,500 crore through his companies, Dreamz Infra, TGS and Gruha Kalyan.
He was out on bail in September and the Karnataka CID has not yet filed a chargesheet in the case. However, the investigating agency has submitted a list of properties owned by Sachin Naik to the Karnataka Revenue Department, which will be auctioned soon.
A source with the Revenue Department said that 17 of his properties will be attached and will be put up for online auction soon.
“Two weeks ago, the CID submitted a list of 17 properties which will be auctioned. We are still in the process of assessing the market value of these properties. The money obtained from the auction will be distributed to the people who had invested in his schemes,” the source added.
According to a CID source, there are a total of 55 properties in which the fraud companies had bought stakes.
“Out of the 55 properties, 17 of them can be auctioned but the problem lies in the other 38 properties,” the source adds.
Sachin had entered into agreements with certain builders after assuring them that he would buy the properties on a later date. The terms of the agreements have now landed the people who invested in trouble, CID sources say.
The fraudulent companies, with the money collected from the investors, would enter into agreements by making down payments. The agreements also state that if the companies (Dreamz Infra, TGS and Gruha Kalyan) did not pay the rest of the money with a stipulated time period, the down payment amount would be forfeited.
“Sachin Naik never got the properties registered. The down payment money was then forfeited. We are now holding talks with the builders and asking them to consider returning the money without interest so that the affected people will get the money back,” CID sources added.
Chargesheet not yet filed
Speaking to TNM, Manjunath, an affected person from Bengaluru’s Marthahalli area, said that the CID team, which is investigating the case has not been able to answer his questions as to why a chargeshhet has not been filed in the case.
“In April, when a lot of the victims of Dreamz Infra project had approached the Chief Minister, the case had been handed over to the CID. Initially they told us that there are some technical grounds on which Sachin Naik is not at all a part of the company. But why are they not filing a chargesheet against Disha Choudhary, the managing director of the company?” Manjunath questioned.
Another affected person, Khaleel, expressed his anger against the course of the investigation. “We have lost our hard-earned money. Now, no chargesheet has been filed. We all know that Sachin Naik had a lot of political influence. Now he is out on bail and enjoying his life. Recently, one of the affected persons had spotted him at a bar in Bengaluru,” Khaleel added.
However, sources with the CID said that they are probing allegations about Sachin Naik forging company documents to effectively distance himself from prosecution.
“We are pursuing all leads. Details on who made the allegations cannot be revealed but we are probing to see if he forged company documents to show that he was not involved. Currently, Disha Choudhary, Sachin Naik’s former wife and his current wife Mandeep Kaur are the ones who have been named as the managing directors of the company. Sachin Naik’s name does not appear in any official documents. The only way we know he was involved are the victims who say that he was man with whom they held all meetings,” the source added.