By Shreyanka Nandan
Gurugram, March 8, 2025 – The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested the promoter of the World Trade Centers (WTC) Group Ashish Bhalla on Friday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) provisions. Bhalla is charged with masterminding a massive real estate scam allegedly cheating thousands of investors in a well-constructed conspiracy.
The ED initiated its investigation against WTC Group and its promoters, such as Ashish Bhalla, Suparna Bhalla, Abhijeet Bhalla, Bhutani Infra, and other connected parties. The investigation is on allegations of cheating, criminal breach of trust, and defrauding flat buyers by giving assured returns on investment in plots and commercial properties.
Money Diversion and Overseas Transactions
As per ED sources, the probe found that after raising funds from investors, the accused transferred the funds via shell companies to purchase land in different locations. In addition, hundreds of crores were supposedly routed outside India to suspicious entities in Singapore, which were said to be owned by Bhalla’s family members.
The finance investigation agency revealed that WTC Group cheated more than ₹3,000 crore from investors from various states such as Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, and Punjab. In the urge of getting assured high returns, the money was diverted for different usage, incurring huge monetary losses.
Bhalla’s absconding and Arrest
On 27th February, under Section 17 of the PMLA, ED raided, but Bhalla is said to be absconding and tried to impede the investigation by manipulating central people. He allegedly intentionally went into hiding from authorities for at least a week to stall judicial proceedings.
Then on 6th March 2025 under Section 19 of the PMLA, Bhalla was arrested and remained in ED custody for further interrogation according to Gurugram Special Court for the next 6 days. The authorities are convinced that he was the mastermind behind the group’s fraudulent activities and gained immensely from the scam.
WTCA Cancels 13 Licenses
During the ongoing investigation, the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) declared the revocation of 13 licenses of WTC Noida Development and Spire Techpark for several breaches of their contracts. The licenses were revoked for violations of contractual terms, non-compliance with WTCA bylaws, and a failure to further the association’s goals.
The canceled licenses, dated February 19, 2025, are for WTC projects at Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Faridabad, GIFT City, Lucknow, Noida, Noida CBD, Patna, Surat, Vadodara, and Varanasi.
Extensive Raids and Legal Actions
On February 27, the ED carried out widespread raids in Delhi, Noida, Faridabad, and Gurugram against WTC Group and Bhutani Group, the other large realty player under probe. The authorities have identified assets valued in terms of thousands of crores belonging to these groups.
The crackdown came after several FIRs were lodged by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi and Faridabad Police on complaints of hundreds of cheated investors and homebuyers. Investigations are underway, and more action is to be taken in the next few weeks.