New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested WTC Group promoter Ashish Bhalla on Friday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with a ₹3,000-crore real estate fraud case.
Bhalla has been accused of cheating thousands of investors and companies.
ED officials conducted searches at 12 locations in Delhi, Faridabad and NCR. Since then, Bhalla had been on the run, trying to evade legal action.
During the raids, ED uncovered large-scale financial irregularities involving the WTC Group and Bhutani Group. Authorities found documents revealing WTC Group collected over ₹3,500 crore from investors across the country, including Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and Punjab, and also 15 projects in Delhi/NCR.
The search also uncovered evidence that assets worth thousands of crores were transferred to the Bhutani Group at nominal prices, potentially hiding proceeds of a crime. Additionally, records of cash transactions were seized.
Mint reported Bhutani Group agreed to acquire a majority stake in WTC Group in July 2024, but later denied involvement in land or fund transfers, and cut ties with the company.
This scam has left more than 20,000 homebuyers in financial distress, because of incomplete projects and huge monetary losses.
“Investigations also revealed that hundreds of crores were also diverted abroad to suspicious entities in Singapore whose beneficial ownership is with family members of Ashish Bhalla,” ED sources told The Hindu.
The ED launched its probe after multiple FIRs by Delhi Police’s EOW and Faridabad police, where homebuyers and investors accused WTC Group of fraud and breach of trust. The FIRs claimed WTC Faridabad misled buyers into investing in a residential project in Sectors 111-114, Faridabad.
“He is a key beneficiary and mastermind of the fraudulent activities of the group and has made unlawful gains through the scheme. Ashish Bhalla was arrested on March 6 for custodial interrogation, and a special Gurugram court granted his six-day custody to the ED,” the official added.
