The Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested former Lodha Developers Ltd. director Rajendra Lodha (59) in connection with a massive fraud case involving over ₹85 crore. He was produced before the Esplanade Court on Tuesday, where the court remanded him in police custody till September 29.
Alongside, the police have also summoned his son Sahil Lodha, asking him to appear before the investigating officers on September 25.
During the hearing, investigating officer Mangesh Desai informed the court that the statements of 25 witnesses have been recorded so far, out of which seven have been registered before a first-class magistrate. He further revealed that the custodial interrogation of Rajendra Lodha has led to several shocking findings. According to the police, Lodha had been involved in large-scale cash dealings for personal gain over the last 12 to 15 years. On September 17, his brother Deepak Lodha was caught on CCTV footage leaving Rajendra’s residence with three large bags, following which police seized crucial documents from Deepak’s home.
Investigators also recovered a hard disk from Lodha Developers’ Dombivli office, which contained Excel sheets under Rajendra Lodha’s name, recording details of suspicious transactions. An examination of his mobile phone revealed that he had been communicating in coded language with other accused persons about land deals and cash transfers. Statements from company managers and business developers indicated that cheques worth over ₹1.11 crore were issued in the names of brokers and others during the past year, with the money ultimately converted into cash and handed over to Lodha. His personal assistant has also confirmed these cash transactions. Moreover, investigators claim that Lodha had sold a plot reserved for an educational institution under the Penoshia Project to a firm in which his son Sahil was a partner, indicating benami transactions.
The police argued in court that his custody needed to be extended as crucial parts of the investigation were still pending. These include tracing the hidden cash and gold bars allegedly purchased from businessman Hemant Bafna, decoding the coded conversations found on his mobile, confronting him with other middlemen who have surfaced during the inquiry, and conducting a forensic audit of his financial records, particularly the transfer of more than ₹49 crore into the account of his son Sahil Lodha.
Rajendra Lodha was arrested on September 17. The police allege that he misused his position as company director to carry out fraudulent transactions amounting to over ₹85 crore, causing massive financial losses.