Authorities Crack Down on Cidco Land Fraud: 2 Arrested for Rs 18 Crore Scam | Mumbai News

Mumbai: Navi Mumbai police‘s economic offences wing (EOW) on Friday arrested two people for duping a businessman of Rs 18 crore through a fraudulent land sale in 2021.
The arrested duo’s property was acquired by Cidco, for which they received compensation, but they later allegedly forged property documents and sold the same plot to the businessman. Police are also investigating the role of some Cidco as well as state revenue department officials who may have connived with the accused.
The two accused, Muazzam Maqsood Bhaiji and Ibrahim Bhaiji, who arrested for cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy, were produced before a Panvel court over the weekend and remanded in judicial custody.
Police are looking for their aides, Tulsi Jashnani and one Gautam. Another accused, Mahesh Alimchandani, died last year. While seeking Muazzam and Ibrahim’s custody, police said that they were yet to arrest Riaz Khot, an real estate agent allegedly involved in the fraud as well as other agents.
Police sources said Jashnani and Alimchandani are “habitual offenders” against whom several cheating cases have been registered by Mumbai EOW and in Lonavla
The dispute centres on the alleged forgery and misrepresentation regarding the sale of land parcels in Kharghar acquired by Cidco and compensated for in 2003.
The complaint was filed in 2023 by an aggrieved buyer, Vinay Chawla of Chinmaya Associates, who alleged that he was induced into investing money in the land. He said Jashnani, Alimchandani, some local estate agents and the arrested accused handed over forged NOCs and fraudulent documents of the property. The land in Kharghar was sold despite its non-transferable status, violating Cidco regulations. Police said Cidco officials confirmed that no such NOCs had been issued.
“The NOCs were created to misrepresent the land’s usability, enabling its sale. Documents were tampered with, including 7/12 extracts, to make the transactions appear genuine. Over Rs 18 crore was allegedly defrauded from the plaintiff and now we are probing the role of govt officials who aided and abetted the accused,” said an official. The money trail led to Jashnani and Muazzam and Ibrahim’s bank accounts.