By Express News Service Troubles for JP Morgan Real Estate fund are intensifying with forensic auditors examining the books of the Amrapali Group laying new facts before the Supreme Court. The forensic auditors on the case have said that they have found some discrepancies in an investment made by JP Morgan Real Estate Fund in Amrapali’s Zodiac project. They allege that the fund had invested Rs 85 crore in the group by purchasing some Amrapali shares, and then gone on to make Rs 140 crore by selling these shares to sister companies of the realty firm. The auditors have questioned how such large transactions could have been done without any verification, noting that the real estate firm had violated several norms existing that the time. The bench has consequently asked valuers to explain the transactions executed by JP Morgan Real Estate fund and Amrapali Group, including how these shares were sold to two little-known companies — ‘Neelkant’ and ‘Rudraksh’ — for Rs 140 crore. The auditors have requested the bench to make a further investigation into the issue. The bench also noted that ‘Neelkant’ and ‘Rudraksh’ were owned by Chandan Kumar, who was a peon in the office of the statutory auditor of Amrapali. While the bench asked the auditors who the actual beneficiary in the transaction was, it also noted that it does not appear to be a bona fide transaction prima facie. The auditors have told the bench that they have written to JP Morgan, but the American firm had not yet shared the name of actual beneficiary. Earlier, the counsel for JP Morgan had told the court that said that they could submit the name of actual financier who had invested in Amrapali Group to the Supreme Court, but this could not be shared with other parties since US laws prohibited such disclosure. The apex court, meanwhile, has directed the auditors of JP Morgan to be present on the next date of hearing on February 28 and handover the agreement for the Zodiac project. Transactions not bona fide?
The real estate arm of US bank JPMorgan is under investigation from US 's Supreme Court over its investment in Real Estate ; the firm's Supreme Court fund is in hot water after the country's forensic auditors examined the property developer's books and found that the fund executed an INR850m ( $1.2m ) transaction to purchase Chandan Kumar shares before making INR1.4bn through their sale to the Indian firm's subsidiaries, both owned by Amrapali , an employee of the company's auditing office. The auditors have questioned how such large transactions were made without verification, and who the actual beneficiary was.