‘7 years, no house’: UAE investors claim heavy debts after Bengaluru project stalls

When JE, a Dubai-based mother of two, paid Rs 6 million (around Dh251,000) in 2018 for a flat in Ozone Urbana, she imagined annual visits to Bengaluru, a peaceful retirement, and a secure home for her children. Instead, seven years later, she’s staring at an empty plot, rising debt, and a fading dream.

“There’s no house. Nothing has moved at the site in years,” she said. “But I still have to pay the bank over Rs 13 million (Dh544,000) for something that doesn’t even exist,” she told Khaleej Times.

JE is one of several Indian expats in the UAE who say they were misled by Bengaluru-based Ozone Group into buying homes in a massive integrated township that was never delivered.

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Among them is Errol John Noronha, a former Dubai resident and president of the Ozone Urbana Buyer Welfare Association, which represents affected buyers, including many from the UAE. Noronha, who was visiting Dubai, spoke to Khaleej Times on Monday.

“The stories in our group are heartbreaking. People have lost their savings, taken loans they can’t repay, and are now stuck with nothing to show for it,” Noronha said. “The builder failed us, yes. But where were the banks, the regulators? Everyone just looked the other way.”

Raids on developer sparks hope

Now, after years of delay and frustration, a recent crackdown may have finally offered a rare glimmer of hope. On August 1, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), India’s financial crime watchdog, conducted raids at 10 locations linked to Ozone Urbana Infra Developers Pvt Ltd and its key executives, including promoter Satyamoorthi Vasudevan, in Bengaluru and Mumbai.

The action, taken under India’s anti-money laundering law, follows dozens of complaints alleging cheating, criminal conspiracy, and fund diversion. Authorities say they seized documents showing that money collected from homebuyers for the Ozone Urbana project was diverted to unrelated group entities and individuals. The developer is also accused of selling at least 65 flats to multiple buyers.

The 1,800-unit township project, spread across 185 acres near Bengaluru Airport, was launched in 2012 and billed as one of the city’s largest integrated residential developments. Completion was promised by 2018. Today, buyers say less than half of the construction is complete.

However, Satyamoorthi Vasudevan, managing director of the Ozone Group, disputed this. In an emailed response to Khaleej Times, he said the project is closer to 80 per cent complete and that delays have been misreported or misunderstood.

“All funds have been channelled solely towards construction and development,” Vasudevan said. “There has been no diversion of funds — only misinterpretation or misreporting of project progress.”

He confirmed that the Enforcement Directorate is currently reviewing the company’s accounts. “As a responsible organisation, we are fully cooperating with the authorities by providing all required documentation and information,” he said.

On the remaining construction and delivery timelines, Vasudevan said the company is ready to deliver completed units but is navigating regulatory and administrative hurdles, including pending RERA approvals, banking procedures, and statutory clearances. “Once these are resolved, we will be able to move swiftly toward final completion and handover,” he said.

Regarding UAE-based and overseas buyers, Vasudevan acknowledged that some have raised concerns. “We are actively engaging with them to find satisfactory resolutions,” he said. For buyers seeking refunds, the company is working on a structured mechanism. For those awaiting possession, efforts are being made to accelerate construction and deliver homes in a “transparent and accountable manner.” Rebuilding trust, he said, remains a top priority.

Vasudevan also addressed the allegations of double-selling, calling them a “misinterpretation” of the company’s earlier buyback scheme — a structured investment model offering assured returns or repurchase after a defined term. “Some individuals with vested interests have attempted to manipulate this model to create confusion and extract undue financial advantage,” he said. The company, he added, is actively addressing this issue to protect genuine investors and prevent future misuse.

Buyers tell a different story

Despite the company’s assurances, many UAE-based buyers say their experiences tell a different story.
Sharjah-based private pilot Sunil Sequeira, who booked a three-bedroom apartment in 2018 for Rs 10 million (approximately Dh420,000), said he was sold a dream under a subvention scheme, a financing model where the buyer takes out a home loan, but the developer agrees to pay the EMIs (equated monthly installments) and PMIs (pre-EMI interest payments) until possession.

He took a loan through India Bulls, now rebranded as Saman Capital.

“They came to my house in Dubai with slick presentations, floor plans, and big promises,” he told Khaleej Times. “We were told this was a landmark project near the airport that would redefine luxury. The scheme sounded safe; they said they’d pay my EMIs until handover, and I believed them.”

According to Sequeira, the developer initially kept up the payments but later stopped without warning. “That’s when the bank came after me. I ended up with an arrest warrant for defaulting on a loan for a house that doesn’t exist.”

The Ozone Urbana website still describes the project as “a holistic journey of life” with “apartments, duplexes and penthouses surrounded by lush greenery.” For many, the reality is very different.

Moiz Abdulhussain, an early investor from Mumbai, booked an apartment in 2016 under a buyback scheme that promised him double the booking amount at handover. “I paid Rs 750,000 (Dh31,500) upfront and took a Rs 5.7 million (Dh239,000) loan. The bank has already released Rs 3.6 million (Dh151,000) to the builder. The site is still flat ground.”

For years, he says, the developer cited Covid-19 delays and regulatory approvals. “They made it sound routine. Then in 2018, I joined a WhatsApp group of buyers and realised the truth. I was blindsided. But what about the banks? Why release funds when there was barely any structural work on site?”

Moiz has since secured a RERA order asking the developer to pay him Rs 8 million (Dh335,000). “It’s on paper. No one’s enforcing it.”

According to the welfare association, many buyers were told the builder would cover EMIs until possession. “But once the payments stopped and construction stalled, the banks came knocking, like in Sunil’s case,” said Noronha.

Buyers allege that banks released large sums to the developer without proper agreements or any disbursement linked to actual progress on site. Some say they never received construction deeds at all.

“The banks didn’t wait for construction milestones. They just disbursed the money, and now we have to suffer.”

A police complaint filed by the welfare association pegs the alleged fraud at Rs 33 billion (Dh1.38 billion). Of this, Rs 15 billion (Dh628 million) was reportedly raised through unauthorised loans taken in buyers’ names, while Rs 18 billion (Dh754 million) was collected directly from them.

Living in limbo

According to homebuyers, nearly 200 families have moved into partially completed towers despite the chaos. Many blocks reportedly do not have occupancy certificates, permanent electricity, or water connections.

Earlier this year, the Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority (KRERA) named Ozone Group and its affiliates as the state’s biggest defaulters, with 201 complaints and over Rs 1.78 billion (Dh74.8 million) in unpaid dues.

Access denied

Several overseas homebuyers said they were unaware of the scale of defaults because they couldn’t access the KRERA website.

The concern isn’t unfounded. When Khaleej Times attempted to access the site from Dubai, it failed to load. We also asked contacts in the UK, US, and Singapore to try; none could open it. In contrast, RERA websites of other Indian states were accessible without any issue. Buyers said this lack of access kept non-resident investors in the dark about the project’s status.

The crisis at Ozone isn’t limited to Bengaluru. In Chennai, the Metrozone project launched in 2008 remains unfinished. In Mumbai and Goa too, complaints are mounting. The pattern is familiar: grand promises, large sums collected, construction delayed, and buyers left scrambling.

Back in Dubai, JE still hopes something might change.

“I invested everything I had,” she said. “I followed the rules. I believed in the system. And yet here I am, still waiting, still paying. Will my children grow up repaying a loan for a house we never got?”

Mazhar Farooqui

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Mazhar Farooqui, or Maz, is a multiple award-winning investigative journalist and Senior Editor at Khaleej Times. Renowned for exposing corruption and uncovering major scams, he is also the author of The Maz Files: Scoops, Scams & Showdowns.