Cars seized from builder D S Kulkarni parked at Shivaji Nagar police station on Monday. (Express Photo/Arul Horizon) Cars seized from builder D S Kulkarni parked at Shivaji Nagar police station on Monday. (Express Photo/Arul Horizon)

Officials of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Pune city police, who are probing the case filed against the city-based DSK Group, said they had started a probe into loans of up to Rs 2,892 crore taken by the group from banks and finance companies for its real estate projects. Investigators are probing how the loans were taken, what guarantees were given to the lenders, how the money was used and if the group had defaulted on these loans.

Builder D S Kulkarni, his wife Hemanti and some office-bearers of the group are facing charges of cheating thousands of investors who put money in various schemes of the group. So far, over 5,000 depositors of various schemes of the group have approached police and complained that they had been cheated to the tune of Rs 260 crore. The group has taken loans from several banks for its real estate projects.

There are three First Information Reports, filed by different depositors, against the company and its top executives. After a series of hearings on the anticipatory bail of the couple and the group unable to deposit a certain amount, Kulkarni and Hemanti were arrested from a hotel in Delhi on February 17. They are now in police custody and being interrogated by EOW officials.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Nilesh More, who is the investigating officer, said, “We have started looking into several loans taken by the DSK Group from banks and financial companies. According to the documents with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, loans of

Rs 2,892 crore were taken by the group for over 15 projects. The focus of the investigation is now on how these loans were taken and what guarantees were given to the lenders. We are also probing how the money was used or diverted and whether the group has defaulted on the loans…”

An officer said they had been contacted by the Serious Frauds Investigation Office, which is under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, and has started probing the DSK Group’s past practices. The case was referred to the SFIO in the first week of this month.

Meanwhile, as more depositors approach police everyday, a notice has been put outside the EOW office that police will add the names of depositors to complaints only after March 5. “Currently, we do not have adequate staff to attend to the depositors. The teams are busy digging into documents of loans and other financial transactions. Some staff is also dedicated to the police custody of the couple. After March 5, we will take further complaints,” an officer said.

Police seize cars, bike

Pune police on Monday seized high-end cars and bike of Kulkarni and family as part of the ongoing probe against the DSK Group. A police officer said they seized a Porsche, two BMWs, two Toyota Camrys and one MV Augusta two-wheeler. The market price of the cars and bike is estimated at Rs 5 crore.

A chunk of plots — around 3.5 hectares — owned by the DSK Group in Balewadi has already been been put up for auction by the CBI, which had taken it over in last year after the group defaulted on a loan.

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