Trump's Indian real estate partner accused of $147 million fraud
March 20, 2018According to some documents obtained by The Washington Post, a real estate investment company that partnered with the Trump Organization on an office tower project in India has been accused of defrauding its foreign investors of at least $147 million.
The 2 global investment companies based in New York and London that have invested nearly $300 million in the Indian real estate development company IREO filed a criminal complaint with New Delhi police last month alleging that the fund's Indian managing director, Lalit Goyal, co-founder Anurag Bhargava and others engaged in "large-scale fraud" by "illegally siphoning off" at least $147 million of investor money, although the actual sum could approach $200 million, they allege.
The Police said they have received the complaint, however, declined to comment on the matter further. The 2 firms are the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, a charity of the British billionaire Christopher Hohn, knighted for his philanthropic work in 2014, and Axon Partners, an equity firm run by former Goldman Sachs executive Dinakar Singh.
Moreover, Lalit Goyal declined to comment on the allegations through an IREO spokeswoman. But in a March 13 letter to IREO investors, he wrote that "as far as the allegation of fraud, diversion and misappropriation of funds is concerned, this is false, baseless and devoid of any merit."
Donald Trump Jr. called IREO "truly a fantastic group" when the companies announced the project in April 2016. Dusty, water-starved Gurgaon has seen rampant and largely unregulated growth in recent years of gated high-rise communities and soaring office towers that house multinational corporations. However, the Trump Organization did not return emails or telephone calls requesting to comment on the criminal complaint, which does not refer to the organization's partnership with IREO.
Lalit Goyal with Anurag Bhargava who is a U.S. resident on the board of the University of Pennsylvania's engineering school, in 2004 founded the IREO group of funds, designed to inject foreign capital in what was then a relatively untested real estate market. It now manages over $1.6 billion from sovereign wealth and university endowment funds, a portfolio of 1,485 acres in the Delhi area and in the state of Punjab, and 18 million square feet of commercial and residential projects in development.
The 2 global investment companies based in New York and London that have invested nearly $300 million in the Indian real estate development company IREO filed a criminal complaint with New Delhi police last month alleging that the fund's Indian managing director, Lalit Goyal, co-founder Anurag Bhargava and others engaged in "large-scale fraud" by "illegally siphoning off" at least $147 million of investor money, although the actual sum could approach $200 million, they allege.
The Police said they have received the complaint, however, declined to comment on the matter further. The 2 firms are the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, a charity of the British billionaire Christopher Hohn, knighted for his philanthropic work in 2014, and Axon Partners, an equity firm run by former Goldman Sachs executive Dinakar Singh.
Moreover, Lalit Goyal declined to comment on the allegations through an IREO spokeswoman. But in a March 13 letter to IREO investors, he wrote that "as far as the allegation of fraud, diversion and misappropriation of funds is concerned, this is false, baseless and devoid of any merit."
Donald Trump Jr. called IREO "truly a fantastic group" when the companies announced the project in April 2016. Dusty, water-starved Gurgaon has seen rampant and largely unregulated growth in recent years of gated high-rise communities and soaring office towers that house multinational corporations. However, the Trump Organization did not return emails or telephone calls requesting to comment on the criminal complaint, which does not refer to the organization's partnership with IREO.
Lalit Goyal with Anurag Bhargava who is a U.S. resident on the board of the University of Pennsylvania's engineering school, in 2004 founded the IREO group of funds, designed to inject foreign capital in what was then a relatively untested real estate market. It now manages over $1.6 billion from sovereign wealth and university endowment funds, a portfolio of 1,485 acres in the Delhi area and in the state of Punjab, and 18 million square feet of commercial and residential projects in development.
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