MUMBAI, Feb. 4 -- A special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has allowed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to question Rajendra Lodha, former director of Lodha Developers, in Arthur Road jail in connection with an alleged Rs.85-crore fraud. Special judge RB Rote on January 30 ordered the prison superintendent to allow the ED's assistant director, Ratnesh Kumar Karn, enforcement officer Pyar Singh Meena and another staff member to enter the jail to record Lodha's statement on February 6. The order came after the ED filed an application saying it had registered an enforcement case information report (ECIR) based on two FIRs filed against Lodha at the NM Joshi Marg and Borivali police stations. The FIRs accuse him of causing a loss of Rs.85 crore to Lodha Developers by unauthorisedly selling the company's land parcels and transferable development rights (TDR). According to the complaint lodged with the NM Joshi Marg police, Lodha had worked with the company since 1990 and became a director in 2015. From 2021, he was authorised to purchase land for the firm. In July 2025, the complaint claimed that Lodha resigned from his post after the company learnt about his landholdings and confronted him about it. During the inquiry, the company claimed to have found that a flat worth Rs.3.10 crore at its Wadala project had been allotted in 2022 to a person Lodha claimed controlled a 10-acre land parcel in Panvel. However, it was later sold by Lodha to another individual through a broker. The complaint further alleged that in August 2023, Lodha sold a 5,900 square-metre plot for Rs.88 lakh, even though it was located near the upcoming Virar-Alibaug multi-modal corridor. The buyer later sold the same property for Rs.10.88 crore, allegedly causing a loss of Rs.10 crore to the company. It was also alleged that Lodha sold a company-owned land parcel in Bhopar village, Panvel, for Rs.2.75 crore to NBP Edutech Infotech LLP, a firm linked to him, even though the land was valued at around Rs.9 crore. Another land parcel in Shirdhon village near Panvel was also allegedly sold at a throwaway price. Lodha is a distant relative of Maharashtra minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha. The ED further alleged that while serving as director, Lodha unauthorisedly sold around 715,000 square feet of TDR obtained from the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation at very low prices in 35 transactions, causing a loss of Rs.49 crore to the company. Calling Lodha "the principal architect" of the fraudulent transactions, the ED told the court that "despite having authority only to purchase land, he unauthorisedly sold company land and TDRs, fabricated documents, siphoned funds through cash transactions and routed proceeds through associates and front entities for personal gain"....