Economic Fraud
Noida Authority Report to ED Puts 6 Consortium Companies and IAS Officers Under Scrutiny
The Noida Authority has submitted an investigation report to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding Hacienda Project Private Limited’s controversial Lotus 300 project. The report, highlighting fraudulent activities by Hacienda, also implicates six consortium companies linked to the project, alongside eight senior Noida Authority officers who held positions between 2010 and 2016, whose roles have been flagged as suspicious.
Hacienda Properties Private Limited, the developer behind Lotus 300 in Noida, is accused of defrauding both investors and the Noida Authority. According to the report, Hacienda sold approximately 40% of the leased land allocated for the project to another entity, violating the terms of the contract. This report raises the question of who among the Noida Authority officers and Hacienda directors were involved in the Rs 236 crore transaction from the land sale—a matter now under ED’s scrutiny.
On March 31, 2010, Noida Authority had signed a lease agreement granting Hacienda Project Private Limited a 67,241-square-meter land parcel in Sector 107, led by directors Nirmal Singh, Surpreet Singh Suri, and Vidur Bhardwaj. The lease amount was paid in installments over a decade, with the final payment of Rs 27.69 crore made on March 25, 2020.
The Noida Authority’s report singles out the involvement of eight officials, including former CEO Mohinder Singh, with three of these officers now retired. The ED is now set to investigate the officers and directors linked to this alleged misuse of authority and breach of contractual obligations in the Rs 236 crore deal.