New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed 22 cases under the anti-money laundering law to investigate the "unholy nexus" of builders and banks that allegedly led to the cheating of homebuyers in the national capital region (NCR), officials have said.

The cases filed by the federal probe agency, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stem from an equal number of CBI FIRs that were filed by the latter agency in July-end on the directions of the Supreme Court.

These cases involve "enormous" public interest as numerous homebuyers are alleged to have been cheated. The ED will look to investigate the alleged fraud, corruption and money laundering done by the builders, banks and others and attach illicit assets that were created by the accused, sources told PTI.

There is a provision for restitution of assets under the PMLA and the ED will look to execute this clause in these cases, wherever possible, they said.

The CBI had named Jaypee Sports International Ltd, Jaiprakash Associates Ltd, Ajnara India Ltd, Vatika Ltd, Jaypee Infratech Ltd, Supertech and Idea Builders among others in its separate FIRs.

The bankers and financial institutions like the State Bank of India, Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd, Piramal Finance, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Capital Housing Finance and PNB Housing Finance Ltd among others have also been named in the FIRs registered by the Economic Offences unit of the CBI.

The accused in the 22 ED Enforcement Case Information Reports (ECIRs) are the same, agency sources said.

An ECIR is the ED equivalent of a CBI or Police FIR.

The CBI action followed the directives of the apex court bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh which allowed the agency to convert the six preliminary enquiries it conducted against various builders and banks into 22 regular cases for further investigation.

The cases focus on a subvention scheme offered by the banks and financial institutions to homebuyers wherein sanctioned loan amounts were directly disbursed to developers who were obligated to pay the EMIs until possession of the flats was handed over to the buyers. Following widespread defaults by developers on their commitments, the banks began demanding repayment from the purchasers.

The apex court had praised the preliminary CBI probe in these cases, saying the agency (CBI) examined more than 1,000 individuals and visited 58 project sites as part of its investigation.

It was hearing a batch of petitions filed by over 1,200 homebuyers, who booked flats under the subvention plans in various housing projects in the NCR region, especially Noida, Greater Noida and Gurugram.

The petitioners allege they are being coerced by the financial institutions to remit EMIs despite not having received possession of their flats.

"The Hon'ble Supreme Court observing the unholy nexus between the builders and the financial institutions in cheating the homebuyers by innovating and introducing 'Subvention Scheme' of home loans, in the month of April 2025, directed the CBI to register seven Preliminary Enquiries (PEs)," a CBI spokesperson had said. PTI NES KSS KSS