EXCLUSIVE
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It is the most exclusive and high-profile residential street address in Wollongong: 64 Cliff Road.
For decades, the property defied the modern apartments and sharp penthouses that sprouted around it. Occupied by the Spence family’s old weatherboard house, it remained an unmined gem among jewels.
And then, in 2008, along came a miner. That was when Arun Jagatramka, chairman of Gujarat NRE Coking Coal, bought the property for $5million (or one of his companies did, for Mr Jagatramka never owned the house personally).
By late 2011, the Spences’ weatherboard was gone. In its place, arose a luxurious two-storey mansion, a home fit for a king – or the Jagatramkas.
More recently, as Gujarat NRE Coking Coal plunged deeper into financial trouble, 64 Cliff Road has become something else: a symbol of security for Gujarat’s unpaid workers.
Arun Jagatramka at the South Bulli coalmine in 2009.‘‘At least there’s the house,’’ they say. It has become a constant refrain. ‘‘If Gujarat goes belly up, they can always sell the house to pay us what they owe.’’
Of course, who knew what the property might fetch, how much workers were owed, or what other creditors might be jostling for a place in the queue?
But to unpaid workers with families and bills, something is better than nothing.
And to working folk, property is something. It is not hocus-pocus, like a corporate spreadsheet. It is physical. It has real value and can be sold.
Except for one thing.
The Gujarat company that owns the property has already been sold.
That company, Gujarat NRE Properties Pty Ltd, was sold to an unrelated company, Basant International, for almost $10.2million on June 18 this year.
As a result, the Jagatramkas and their companies no longer have any association with 64 Cliff Road.
And 64 Cliff Road is no longer an asset that could potentially be sold to satisfy debts owed by Gujarat NRE Coking Coal, including unpaid wages.
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According to records lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Basant International has no association with Gujarat NRE Coking Coal or its directors, including Arun Jagatramka and his wife, Mona.
However, the Mercury has uncovered a complex web of companies in Australia and India that shows Basant’s owner, Kunal Chandak, and Mr Jagatramka have at various times served as directors of the same companies and have some common business associates.
In addition, Mr Chandak and his wife, Smriti Bajoria Chandak, were photographed with Mrs Jagatramka at Kembla Grange races in 2010, and Mr and Mrs Chandak both list Mr Jagatramka as a friend on Facebook.
Property and company records show that until June 18, Gujarat NRE Coking Coal owned the Cliff Road property through a wholly owned subsidiary, Gujarat NRE Koyala Pty Ltd.
Gujarat NRE Koyala bought the house for $5million in 2008 and still owns the title.
On September 9, 2008, soon after buying the house, Gujarat NRE Koyala changed its name to Gujarat NRE Properties Pty Ltd.
It remained a wholly owned subsidiary of Gujarat NRE Coking Coal until June 18 this year.
On that date, ASIC records show that Gujarat NRE Coking Coal sold Gujarat NRE Properties to Basant International for almost $10.2million.
As a result, Gujarat NRE Coking Coal and its directors, including Mr Jagatramka, ceased to have any interest in Gujarat NRE Properties or the house in Cliff Road.
According to ASIC records, Basant International has total capital of $5000 and no recorded history before June 18.
The records show the following transactions all took place on June 18:
• Gujarat NRE Properties issued 9,353,050 new shares at $1 each.
• Gujarat NRE Coking Coal bought the new shares. With the 810,000 shares it already owned, that gave Gujarat NRE Coking Coal 100 per cent control of Gujarat NRE Properties’ 10,163,050 shares.
• Gujarat NRE Coking Coal sold all 10,163,050 shares in Gujarat Properties to Basant International for $1 each.
Until its sale on June 18, the directors of Gujarat NRE Properties were Mr Jagatramka, Mrs Jagatramka and Gujarat NRE company secretary Sanjay Sharma. Sanjay Sharma also served as company secretary of Gujarat NRE Properties.
Rashni Loyalka, Smriti Bajoria, Kunal Chandak and Mona Jagatramka at the Kembla Grange races in 2010.After the sale, the Jagatramkas and Sanjay Sharma relinquished their roles with Gujarat Properties and were replaced by Rajat Sharma.
Although the sale of Gujarat Properties to Basant International occurred on June 18, Basant International’s business registration was not completed until July 5, when it was registered by Mr Chandak with paid-up capital of $5000.
Mr Chandak replaced Rajat Sharma as director and company secretary of Gujarat NRE Properties on July 9. According to ASIC records, neither Basant International nor Gujarat NRE Properties has any other shareholders, directors or company officers, apart from Mr Chandak.
Although Mr Chandak has no association with Gujarat NRE Coking Coal, ASIC records show Mr Chandak and Mr Jagatramka have at different times both served as directors of the same companies and have some common business acquaintances through a complex web of companies in Australia and India.
Mr Chandak is a director and secretary of Century Satellite Pty Ltd, along with fellow directors Dinesh Chandra Bajoria and Srikishan Maheshwari.
All three were previously directors of Avondale Resources Pty Ltd. Before them, Avondale’s directors included Mr Jagatramka and Mr Sanjay Sharma.
Avondale Resources is owned by Happy Mining. Happy Mining’s sole director and secretary is Mr Rajat Sharma, who was briefly director and secretary of Gujarat NRE Properties after it was sold to Basant International and was replaced in that role by Mr Chandak.
Happy Mining, and therefore Avondale Resources, is ultimately owned by an Indian company, Gujarat Metallic Coal and Coke Limited (GMCCL). The chairman and managing director of GMCCL is Dinesh Chandra Bajoria.
In June 2011, Mr Bajoria told the DNA newspaper in India that his family was related to Mr Jagatramka and that GMCCL at that time owned a 3.7 per cent stake in Gujarat NRE Coking Coal.
‘‘We have a stake in Gujarat NRE Coking Coal by virtue of my family being related to Arun Jagatramka, the promoter of Gujarat NRE group. He is a leading player in the metallurgical coke space and any foray into that sector by us could only happen under his guidance,’’ Mr Bajoria said.
Mr Bajoria’s Facebook page lists Mr Chandak, Mr Chandak’s wife Smriti Bajoria Chandak, and Mr Jagatramka as friends.
Basant International, Gujarat NRE Properties, Avondale Resources, Happy Mining and Century Satellite all use an accounting firm in Padstow, Gokani and Associates, as their registered offices.
Gokani and Associates was formerly the registered business address for Gujarat NRE Coking Coal.
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