I am personally surprised, shocked, and disappointed by the development that has recently happened at Soham Builders’ project @ Manpada in Thane West - viz., Soham Gardens [read this article]. The person in question is Soodesh More [read this article as well], who I was personally quite comfortable dealing with. I had bought a flat in Fairytale apartment, part of the Soham Gardens complex, through Soodesh only. I had got information about many luxirious flats through this unique location which searches and showcases many luxurious properties and have zeroed in on this flat which I loved at first instance!

It was close to 3.5 years back, when the project was in trouble, but still I bought a flat in that apartment. We were dealing with Soodesh only, and we completely believed what he said to us. He convinced us that the project will be cleared soon and we can move in to our own “dream home”. We were impressed with the cordial and trustworthy behaviour exhibited by Soodesh. In fact, Soodesh had helped me in most of the aspects throughout this dealing and I was convinced that Soodesh is “My Man”…

Though I am troubled by this development, somewhere at the bottom of my heart, I still feel that Soodesh will not get involved in this kind of cheap tricks. He was a flatterer, but he never got involved in illegal activities. He spoke lot of lies but never involved in cheating, that too at such a large extent. My sympathies are with Soodesh, because when it comes to such huge amount (to the tune of Rs 15 crores), anyone’s honesty will shatter. I am sure Soodesh must be in dire need of money which made him take such an extreme step…

I urge the law-enforcing authorities to look at this case from this angle as well. Soodesh was a good man. He lied, he flattered, but as far as I know he was never involved in serious cheating… I wish all the very best to Soodesh.

In my last article, we observed how an economic fraud has been taking shape in SOHAM BUILDERS’ Thane project. The person, whom we can now call a CON-MAN, is none other than one of the most trusted aides of the builder - SOODESH MORE. Soodesh was enjoying trust not only from the builder, but also from many of the customers and staff. He usually was polite and always tried to settle the issues amicably. This quality of his has won him lot of trust from the buyers of residential properties.

I think a visit to the history behind all this story may be of help to my readers. It should be noted that the project under question - FAIRYTALE under Soham Gardens at Manpada Thane West - was under litigation for last 2-3 years. Soodesh was the middleman, interfacing between the builder and the angry, agitated, frustrated customers. He managed both so well that most of the customers actually put in trust and faith in Soodesh. He enjoyed a kind of blind faith! And this was exactly at the center of all this economic irregularity. Since he was blindly trusted, Soodesh managed to SELL THE SAME FLAT TO MULTIPLE BUYERS!

Find below the official communication from Soham Builders urging all its customers to avoid any type of dealing with Soodesh More.

Look very closely at this face. This face may not raise any doubts in anyone’s minds. This face may not evoke any protests. This face, in fact, may make you believe that this person is an honest and trustworthy person. I AM SORRY. BUT ALL OF THE ABOVE IS 100% FALSE…

I am not joking. The person featured in above photograph has duped quite a few investors into buying “illegal” flats. This person has “tricked” the builder for who he was employed with with lakhs of rupees. This person has, as the matter of fact, sold the same flat twice and made lots of “quick bucks”… All this while he was working from his office premises and no one smelt anything…

This person in question is SOODESH MORE. He was employed with SOHAM BUILDERS, a very reputed builder from Thane. Soodesh has been a “loyal” employee of Soham since quite some time, at least more than 4 years… Soodesh is soft spoken, interacts warmly with customers and otherwise, is dressed smartly, sports expensive gizmos, drives swanky cars… In short, he is a perfect package whom everyone can easily trust. He can impress anyone with his soft yet politically correct talks…

But this person is definitely not genuine, not trustworthy, not faithful, not loyal… ANYMORE. I will talk about story of Soodesh in my next post, with an official announcement from Soham Builders. This will prove my point.

In a shocking revelation to Times of India, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) civic chief Swadhin Kshatriya told that not a single building with car decks on each floor has so far received the mandatory occupation certificate (OC) from the corporation. According to the records with BMC, most of “such” residential buildings were still in the construction stage! And as a matter of fact, most of these building are in prime locations across the metropolis.

In fact, BMC has already stopped sanctioning buildings with car decks, in order to prevent any possible misuse. The chief cracked the whip after a TOI expose on how builders who had got permissions to construct car parking decks on each floor were misusing the space by selling it as part of your apartment. That means, builders claim that they are providing private car decks and in the process grab additional FSI. For example, one of the prominent developer in the metropolis show to prospective buyers the living room in the area earmarked for the car park! This is clearly illegal and is a criminal act of deceiving innocent buyers…

The most blatant case is that of a new residential building in JVPD (one of the most prime areas of Mumbai) where the BMC’s building proposal department sanctioned 386 car slots for just 33 apartments. You can read more details about the story here.

A real-life version of “Khosla Ka Ghosla” is being played out with an increasing number of non-resident Indians (NRIs). The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) is being flooded with increasing complaints of illegal / fraudulent real estate deals and encroachments. In fact, with the recent Satyam scam casting its shadow on Maytas Properties, apprehensions amongst overseas investors has deepened.

It should be noted that property dispute is one of the most frequent complaints by NRIs. They are unable to protect their property due to long absences or lack of awareness of laws. The largest number of complaints are from major real estate markets like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Punjab.

The nature of the complaints are mainly protection of property that has been forcibly occupied or encroached, dispute relating to division of property or inheritance and cases where investors have been cheated by real estate developers.

What actions are being taken by Government?

A minister from MOIA has mentioned that, following this flood of complaints, he had written to state governments asking them to appoint nodal officers for civil, judicial and police matters. These nodal officers are independent from NRI cells that are dedicated for issues related to financial or welfare interests of overseas Indians. The ministry has also planned a session on property disputes at the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas in January 2010. The purpose of the interactive session is three-fold: allowing NRIs to invest safely in realty, putting in place an institutional mechanism at the state-level for property related disputes and providing a channel for credible information relating to property and inheritance laws.