Yes Bank-DHFL loan fraud: ‘Avinash Bhosale was part of conspiracy:’ Court rejects bail plea of bizman

Pune businessman Avinash Bhosale's bail plea in the DHFL-Yes Bank loan fraud has been rejected by a special court in Mumbai. The court stated that Bhosale was part of the conspiracy even before Yes Bank disbursed loans to DHFL. Bhosale was arrested on May 26, 2022 for his alleged involvement in the case. The court observed that all the accused involved in the case had hatched a criminal conspiracy much before the investment of Yes Bank in April 2018.

Mumbai: A special court has rejected the bail plea of high-profile Pune businessman Avinash Bhosale in the DHFL-Yes Bank loan fraud, observing that he was part of the conspiracy even before Yes Bank disbursed loan to DHFL (Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited).

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Special judge MG Deshpande, while rejecting the bail plea observed, “Prima facie there is substance to hold that all the accused involved in the case had hatched a criminal conspiracy much before investment of Yes Bank in April 2018.”

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Bhosale on May 26, 2022, for his alleged involvement in the Yes Bank-DHFL loan fraud case. The court referred to his role and observed that there was a meeting of the ‘wise brains’ much before the actual disbursement of April 2018 which indicated conspiracy. The court said transactions between Bhosale and Radius Group in 2015 also originated from Yes Bank.

The court noted, “The applicant (Bhosale) received ₹317.40 crore from Radius Group which was over and above the non-convertible debentures (NCD) redemption obligation. Also, DHFL had given Inter Corporate Deposit (ICD) of ₹140 crore and ₹43 crore to the Group companies of the applicant (A-21) without receiving any application, without any appraisal note and without obtaining any tangible security for the ICD amount. In this way, the applicant’s group companies received a total ₹569.40 crore from DHFL and a significant loan amount of ₹300 crore was utilised to acquire a property at 5, Strand London.”

“After Yes Bank’s investment in DHFL, huge loan amounts were disbursed by DHFL to the Radius Group by violating established credit norms of DHFL. Out of the disbursement by Yes Bank to DHFL, DHFL sanctioned a loan amount ₹2,000 crore to Radius Group for the development of the Avenue 54 project and repayment of existing loan amounts of lender banks. After the disbursement, Radius Group diverted a loan of ₹292.40 crore to the applicant’s (Bhosale’s) group companies in the garb of NCD Redemption and purchasing Dairy business,” the court said.

The court added, “The chargesheets indicate how DHFL sanctioned ₹416 crore to Radius Group without any process note and without obtaining tangible security, but only on the formal email request of the Radius Group. Out of the said disbursed loan, Wadhawan brothers received back ₹250 crore for their personal utilisation and ₹25 crore received by Nibodh Reality, the company of the applicant in the garb of NCD Redemption Payment,” the court said.

“The applicant was well aware of the purpose of the loan amount as he had already received consultancy fees from DHFL for the Avenue 54 project. It has to be noted that Radius Group has never dealt with any other business-like dairy than the Real Estate business. Therefore, prima- facie no question arises for purchase of Dairy business by Sanjay Chhabaria from the applicant,” it added.

According to the CBI, between April and June 2018, Yes Bank had invested around ₹4,727 crore in short-term non-convertible debentures and Masala Bonds of DHFL. The bank had also sanctioned a term loan of ₹750 crore to a DHFL group firm.

In return, the then Yes Bank MD and CEO Rana Kapoor received a kickback of ₹600 crore from DHFL in the form of a loan to his family firm, Do It Urban Ventures (India) Private Limited, the CBI had said, adding that Avinash Bhosale group companies had received ₹569.22 crore from DHFL, including funds routed through Radius Group of builder Sanjay Chhabria.