ED attaches DHFL promoters’ assets worth ₹70 cr

The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached assets worth ₹70.39 crore belonging to former promoters of DHFL, Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, in a money laundering probe. The attached assets include paintings, watches, jewellery, a stake in a helicopter, and two flats in Mumbai. The Wadhawans are accused of cheating a consortium of 17 banks led by UBI of ₹34,615 crore. ED's total attachments in the case now amount to ₹2,095.94 crore.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets worth ₹70.39 crore belonging to the former promoters of Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL), Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan. The move is part of a money laundering probe wherein the Wadhawans are accused of cheating a consortium of 17 banks led by Union Bank of India (UBI) of ₹34,615 crore.

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The attached assets are in the form of paintings and sculpture worth ₹28.58 crore, watches worth ₹5 crore, diamond jewellery worth ₹10.71 crore, 20% stake in a helicopter worth ₹9 crore and two flats in the suburb of Bandra in Mumbai worth ₹17.10 crore, according to ED.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. ED’s investigation in the case revealed that Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, erstwhile directors at DHFL, and other accused persons allegedly entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat the consortium of 17 banks led by UBI. The accused allegedly induced the consortium to sanction loans worth ₹42,871.42 crore, according to the ED.

“The accused persons siphoned off and misappropriated a significant portion of the funds by falsifying the books of DHFL. They dishonestly defaulted on repayment of legitimate dues, causing a wrongful loss of ₹34,615 crore to the consortium lenders,” a source in the ED said.

With the latest move, ED’s total attachments in the DHFL-UBI fraud case have gone up to ₹2,095.94 crore. This includes properties worth ₹1,412 crore attached in connection with fraud involving Yes Bank, five high-end vehicles worth of ₹12.59 crore seized in connection fraud involving Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited, and properties worth ₹578 crore or GBP 57 million attached in connection with fraud by Wadhawan Global Capital (UK) Ltd, a company owned by Wadhawans. Jewellery and cash worth ₹22.96 crore was also seized from the Wadhawans as part of the probe.