After multi-crore fraud is detected, HSVP to audit plot transactions of past 10 years

An HSVP official said the authority has sold property worth ₹20,000 crore in the past three years through e-auction, and payments have been made on the PPM system online

After it came to fore that a buyer in Gurugram had paid a mere ₹4,379 to buy two plots worth at least ₹7 crore in the city even though the plot property management (PPM) system of Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) showed inflated payments, the authority has decided to audit all property transactions in its systems, carried out over the past 10 years, to ascertain if similar frauds were perpetrated in the past as well.

According to a report by chief controller of finance, HSVP, the allottee made a payment of just ₹4,379 to buy two plots -- one in Palam Vihar and another in Sector 23A --worth around ₹7 crore.

HSVP officials said the discrepancy in actual payments and the amount shown in PPM system, managed by the IT wing of the authority, was discovered last month during an internal audit, and the sale of three plots, all to a single woman buyer, was blocked.

According to a report by chief controller of finance, HSVP, the allottee made a payment of just ₹4,379 to buy two plots -- one in Palam Vihar and another in Sector 23A --worth around ₹7 crore. The sale of a third plot, also to the same allottee, was blocked after the discrepancy came to fore.

HSVP officials said it was found that she made five payments of ₹100 each for the two plots and seven payments amounting to ₹4,379. However, the PPM system of the authority showed that for the Palam Vihar plot, she paid ₹4.52 crore, while for the sector 23A plot, the system showed payment of ₹2.15 crore. Officials have not found any payment details for the third plot, but have blocked its sale because it is also in the name of the same allottee.

Ajit Balaji Joshi, chief administrator, HSVP, said they have decided to audit the transactions carried out in the past 10 years to ascertain whether there were more such cases.

“The matter of three plots was revealed in an internal audit and now we have decided to audit the records of last 10 years,” he said.

As per the report by chief controller of finance, HSVP, the authority has checked entries of plots worth ₹1,200 crore. The audit found that there were 110 properties for which the amount credited to the PPM account was different from the amount paid by the allottee. The report said further scrutiny found that a majority of these properties were sold prior to 2021-22 but there were 12 properties, which were sold after or during this period.

“Immediate administrative action is required to be taken, beside bank reconciliation, to avoid recurrence of such activities and detect the associated persons who are indulging in such activities,” the report by BB Gupta, chief controller of finance, said.

An HSVP official said the authority has sold property worth ₹20,000 crore in the past three years through e-auction, and payments have been made on the PPM system online. Around 60% of these properties have been sold in Gururgram.