The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a case against Zee founder Subhash Chandra, other private individuals and companies in connection with an alleged fraud worth ₹1,322 crore involving LIC Housing Finance Limited (LICHFL).
Zee founder Subhash Chandra has been named accused No. 1 in a CBI case over an alleged ₹1,322 crore fraud involving LIC Housing Finance. (Mint File)
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Chandra has been named as accused number 1 in the first information report (FIR) filed by the CBI on August 31 under charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal breach of trust.
The allegations pertain to loan facilities extended by LICHFL to different companies for business expansion and rental securitisation, with Chandra providing continuing guarantees for the borrowings.
According to the LICHFL complaint to the CBI, which is part of the FIR, a loan facility of ₹500 crore was given to Vasant Sagar Properties Pvt Ltd and Pan India Infra Projects Pvt. Ltd. (co-borrower).
Subsequently, a loan facility of ₹480 crore was given to Digital Subscriber Management and Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd. and Spirit Infrapower and Multiventures Pvt. Ltd. (co-borrower) as a Rental Discounting facility under the Scheme of Rental Securitisation.
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In both instances, lending decisions were taken based on net worth certificates submitted by Chandra in 2018. Chandra had submitted his net worth certificate for the Vasant Sagar loan, certifying that his net worth was ₹59,113 crore as of March 31, 2017. In the Digital Loan Facility matter, he had given a net worth certificate on July 6, 2018, stating that his net worth was ₹40,562 crore.
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In both instances, lending decisions were taken based on net worth certificates submitted by Chandra in 2018. Chandra had submitted his net worth certificate for the Vasant Sagar loan, certifying that his net worth was ₹59,113 crore as of March 31, 2017. In the Digital Loan Facility matter, he had given a net worth certificate on July 6, 2018, stating that his net worth was ₹40,562 crore.
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Since then, both loan accounts have defaulted.
The complaint further says that in the course of subsequent proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code for the personal insolvency resolution of Subhash Chandra, “he categorically denied having the net worth as stated in the certificates”, which he submitted to LICHFL to cause approval and disbursal of the loans. Even in 2017-18, he did not have a net worth of more than ₹40,000 crore.
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While seeking a probe into the matter, LICHFL told the CBI, “it is quite apparent that Subhash Chandra and the other accused persons have connived among themselves with common criminal and dishonest intention to defraud the complainant”.
It further says that the accused persons have “publicly disclosed their intention to leave India and are likely to do so, unless a FIR is registered and investigation is undertaken at the earliest to trace the proceeds of the loan and assets of the accused persons”.
Apart from Chandra, others who have been named in the FIR include Vasant Sagar Properties, its director Pankaj Suroliya, Pan India Infrastructure, Digital Subscriber Management and its director Amish Pandya, another company, Spirit Infrapower and Multiventures, and its director Rajeev Dholakia, as well as unknown others.
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Last month, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved Chandra’s repayment plan, under which he would pay ₹6.5 crore. Of this, ₹6.25 crore would go towards creditors, while ₹25 lakh would be used to meet insolvency process costs.
The original claim in the case was about ₹22,006.57 crore. However, a five-member bench later stayed this order.
Neeraj Chauhan is a senior journalist with Hindustan Times and an investigative reporter specialising in national security, terrorism, organised crime, narcotics, corruption, financial crime and complex investigations. With over 21 years of experience across Hindustan Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Pioneer, he has built deep expertise in India’s internal security and law-enforcement landscape. Neeraj has extensively covered India’s principal investigative, intelligence and security agencies, including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, R&AW, MHA and other central security forces. His work has included deeply reported investigations into terrorism, terror financing, cross-border crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, financial fraud and political and corporate corruption. He has reported on some of the most significant terror attacks and security developments in India over the past two decades, including the Delhi serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the recent Pahalgam attack. His reporting has also chronicled the rise and decline of the Indian Mujahideen, the activities and subsequent crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamist extremist networks, the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the Northeast and Maoist violence. Some of Neeraj’s major breaking stories are in Aryan Khan drug case, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide, interception of a 3,000-kg Afghan heroin consignment worth about ₹21,000 crore at Mundra port, Sri Lanka easter bombings, Aarushi-Hemraj murders in Noida, 2G scam, coal block allocation scam, AgustWestland VVIP chopper deal and major bank frauds and extradition cases involving Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. His reporting is marked by an ability to cultivate sources, analyse confidential and complex documents, and follow investigations over several years—from the initial breakthrough to chargesheets, trials and international legal proceedings. He specialises in making complicated security and investigative developments accessible while examining their wider implications for governance and public policy. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow at the University of Westminster, Neeraj also spent time at the Financial Times as part of the fellowship. He was also a Robert Bosch Media Ambassadors India-Germany Fellow, studying at the University of Tübingen and working with Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. He has previously taught investigative journalism and crime reporting as a guest faculty member at the Times School of Journalism. Over more than two decades, Neeraj has established himself as an authoritative voice on India’s national security and investigative landscape, with his reporting closely followed by officials, investigators, lawyers, policymakers and readers seeking insight into some of the country’s most complex and consequential developments.
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Home/India News/CBI books Zee founder Subhash Chandra in alleged ₹1,322 crore fraud case
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