The Central Bureau of India (CBI) is carrying out searches at 12 locations in Mumbai at the premises of accused in the fraud case, the officials added.
The agency has booked the Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL), Kapil Wadhawan, the then CMD, Dheeraj Wadhawan, the director and six realtor companies for allegedly being part of criminal conspiracy to cheating the consortium led by the Union Bank of India to the tune of ₹34,615 crore, the officials told PTI.
The agency has acted on a complaint from the bank on February 11, 2022, they said. The alleged bank fraud case has surpassed fraud amount of ₹23,000 crore by ABG Shipyard.
Wadhawans are already under CBI probe in connection with alleged corruption involving Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor. The agency alleged that Kapoor entered into a criminal conspiracy with Wadhawan for extending financial assistance to DHFL through Yes Bank in return for substantial undue benefits to himself and his family members through companies held by them.
According to the CBI FIR, the scam started taking shape between April and June 2018, when Yes Bank invested ₹3,700 crore in short term debentures of scam-hit DHFL. In return, Wadhawan allegedly "paid kickback of ₹600 crore" to Kapoor and family members in the form of loan to DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd.
An Enforcement Directorate (ED) charge-sheet indicated a criminal conspiracy between Rana Kapoor and Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan to get loan by pledging highly overvalued assets by siphoning off funds through suspicious transactions.
Last year in September, Piramal Capital and Housing Finance's (PCHF) had completed the acquisition of DHFL for ₹34,250 crore which includes a cash component and non-convertible debentures (NCDs).
(With inputs from PTI)
