Mumbai: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police has arrested a prominent real estate developer Ramesh Shah (65) and his son Rahul (40) for allegedly cheating investors in a failed South Mumbai housing project.

Last November a criminal case was registered against Radius Sumer Developers Pvt. Ltd., along with real estate developers Sanjay Chhabria (51) and another by the EOW for allegedly defrauding two brothers of Rs 35.71 crore by getting them to invest in a development project Harbor Heights at Mazgaon. The project was promoted as a lucrative opportunity for NRIs seeking investment in Indian real estate.

Ramesh Shah (65) and Rahul Shah (40) were arrested for also allegedly luring 78 flat buyers to invest in a housing project in Mazagaon and failed to develop the project cheating investors of Rs 35.7 crore.

The father son duo were arrested the-son duo from their plush apartment in Gamdevi and produced in special MPID court and were remanded to police custody.

The case was filed based on a complaint from Mahesh Mirani (67), a resident of Bandra West. According to the complaint, the accused persuaded Mahesh Mirani and his Hong Kong based brother NRI Purushottam Mirani to invest in their Harbour Heights project in Mazgaon. The accused assured them 18,181 square feet of carpet area at a rate of Rs 28,875 per square foot, prompting a total investment of Rs 52.50 crore.

Mahesh and Purushottam Mirani together invested Rs 21.94 crore in advance under the name of their Metro Investment Partnership firm in Radius Sumer Developers' project.

“However, no construction work was undertaken within two years as per the agreement. In April 2019, a cancellation agreement was signed, under which the accused agreed to return Rs 35.71 crore and issued cheques which bounced due to insufficient funds,” said a senior EOW official.

Apart from Mirani brothers, 77 others who had booked flats in the failed housing project of three towers of 25 stories each were duped.

Mirani brothers alleged that despite repeated assurances and documented agreements, Radius Sumer Developers neither progressed with the construction nor returned the invested funds.