A day after the Supreme Court cancelled the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera) registration of Amrapali group, forensic auditors told the Supreme Court that the embattled real estate group entered into "sham agreements" with firms linked to cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his wife Sakshi to "illegally divert" money of homebuyers.

In the forensic audit report, which was accepted by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the auditors stated that Amrapali diverted money to Amrapali Mahi Developers Private Limited and Rhiti Sports Management Private Limited, the director of which is Sakshi.

Dhoni reportedly holds a major stake in Rhiti Sports, which is also the same company which promotes the cricketer.

RHITI RECEIVED RS 42.22 CRORE

During 2009-2015, Rhiti Sports received a total of Rs 42.22 crore from Amrapali group. Of this, Rs 6.52 crore was paid by Amrapali Sapphire Developers Private Limited, the audited report stated.

Several agreements were entered into by Amrapali Group with RSMPL, including one of November 22, 2009, under which Dhoni would make himself available to the chairman for three days along with one representative of RSMPL, it said.

"There are no documents held on record for compliance of this condition," forensic auditors Ravi Bhatia and Pawan Kumar Aggarwal said in their report.

"This clearly shows that these agreements have just been made for payment of amounts to Rhiti Sports Management Private Limited Company are sham agreements and made just for making payments to RSMPL," the report said.

"We feel that home buyers' money has been diverted illegally and wrongly to RSMPL and should be recovered from them as the said agreement in our opinion does not stand the test of Law," the forensic auditors have said in their finding.

WHEN DHONI MOVED COURT AGAINST AMRAPALI

In April this year, MS Dhoni moved the Supreme Court seeking protection of his ownership rights on an over 5,500-square ft penthouse he booked 10 year ago in a project of Amrapali Group.

The report said Amrapali Saphire paid Rs 6.52 crore on account of agreements executed by Amrapali CMD Anil Kumar Sharma with RSMPL.

"There is no resolution on record authorising Anil Kumar Sharma, CMD to enter into an agreement on behalf of all Amrapali group of Companies," the auditors said.

They said Dhoni was the brand ambassador of Amrapali Group and carried out a number of transactions with respect to endorsement of its projects. He entered in agreements with other group companies as well.

It said Amrapali Mahi Developers Pvt Ltd was incorporated for development of a project in Ranchi and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also entered between the parties.

The auditors found that Amrapali Sapphire Developers Private Limited has booked a flat in the name of RSMPL by passing an adjustment entry.

NO SUCH BOOKING, SAYS RHITI

The report has stated that Rhiti Sports have said neither the company nor any individual has any flat in Amrapali Group. "Sanjay Pandey of Rhiti Sports Management Pvt Ltd denied booking of any such flat. He also confirmed that neither the company nor any individual has any flat in Amrapali Group. Pandey confirmed that no due diligence was carried out before accepting the brand endorsement though he informed that brand value and paying capacity was seen," the report said.

"No agreement was provided, though it was agreed that it would be provided by March 11, 2019. Expenses were reimbursed to Rhiti Entertainment Private Limited, a group company, without any agreement," the finding of auditors said.

THE IPL CONNECTION

The report also dealt with an agreement for sponsorship dated March 20, 2015, under which Amrapali Group of Companies got the right to advertise as Logo Space at various places in the IPL 2015 for Chennai Super Kings.

"It is observed that this agreement is on plain paper and executed only between Amrapali and Rhiti Sports Management Private Limited and there are no signatories on behalf of Chennai Super Kings to this agreement. No resolution in favour of Arun Pandey, signatory of Rhiti Sports Management Private Limited, is attached with the said agreement," the auditors said.

RHITI SPORTS DENIES ALLEGATIONS

Rhiti Group, in a statement, said, "With utmost respect to the orders of Supreme Court, we would only like to clarify that the observation mentioned in a forensic report are bereft of proper information or relevant documents. The company has been in possession of all information and relevant documents that can establish the clean image and that the observations made in the said report are incorrect."

The group said, "Rhiti has been an endorsement agency for world class talent and was retained by Amrapali Group due to its fair and transparent business dealings in 2009. The question of siphoning funds does not arise because Rhiti provided all professional services as per the agreement, and the then pre-agreed endorsement fee received from Amrapali was paid to relevant endorsing staff and celebrity."

"We have legitimate business claim of approximately Rs 40 crore against Amrapali Group and towards the recovery of the same, we are before the Supreme Court," RSMPL said.

LANDMARK JUDGMENT ON AMRAPALI

On Tuesday, cracking its whip on errant builders for breaching the trust reposed by home buyers, the top court cancelled registration of Amrapali under the real estate law RERA, and ousted it from its prime properties in NCR by nixing the land leases.

The SC, which directed a probe by the ED into alleged money laundering by realtors, provided relief to over 42,000 home buyers of Amrapali Group with the verdict. It directed the state-run National Buildings Construction Corporation to complete stalled projects of the realtor, whose directors Anil Kumar Sharma, Shiv Priya and Ajay Kumar are behind the bars on top court's order.

(With PTI inputs)

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