Hundreds of people died waiting for homes promised to them by a pastor almost 31 years ago. The buyers who are still alive have no hope of getting the ones they booked. Realising that the money they invested in a housing project in 1989 that was a fraud, seven of the flat buyers, most of whom are senior citizens today, submitted a written complaint to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Friday accusing pastor D S Walters and two others of breaching their trust and duping them of crores of rupees.

One of the complainants, 64-year-old Valerian Pinto, who stays in Mira Road, said, "I trusted the pastor and invested money in the housing project in 1989. But even after 31 years neither has he given me my home nor refunded the money. He duped hundreds of us, some died waiting." "The first phase of the project was supposed to come up on a 17-acre plot behind Veena Nagar in Mulund West. It would have housed 350 1bhk and 2bhk flats of carpet area 350-750 square feet. Though we were given receipts against all the payments made, everything was a lie. No such project was to come up," added Pinto.