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ED gets custody of builder Sanjay Chhabariaa in money laundering probe linked to Yes Bank
Sanjay Chhabariaa was first arrested by the CBI on May 28, for his alleged involvement in the scam. The CBI while seeking his custody claimed Chhabaria had several bank accounts out of which 182 were still in operation.
Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday obtained custody of builder Sanjay Chhabariaa of the Radius group in connection with the money laundering probe linked to Yes Bank and DHFL.
The builder was first arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the fraud on May 28.
The ED in its plea filed for his custody claimed that “a conspiracy was hatched by Rana Kapoor, Kapil Wadhawan (of the Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd. - DHFL), and others and immediately after the transfer of ₹2,700 crore by Yes Bank to DHFL in the garb of subscription for NCDs (non-convertible debentures) of DHFL in the first week of June 2018.
DHFL appraised and sanctioned two loans of Rs. 1,100 crore and Rs. 9,00.00 crore to M/s Radius Estate Projects Pvt Ltd. (REPPL) and Sumer Radius Realty Pvt. Ltd. (SRPPL) respectively,” the plea added.
Both the companies are controlled by Chhabariaa, the ED claimed. “The said amount of ₹2,000 crore ( ₹1,100 crore + ₹900 crore) was availed by Chhabariaa for the declared purpose of development of his project called Avenue 54 at Santacruz West, Mumbai which was to be jointly developed by Radius Group of Sanjay Chhabaria and Sumer Group of Ramesh Shah,” the ED said.
ED also alleged that “a big chunk of the total disbursed amount to M/s Radius Estate Projects Pvt. Ltd. and M/s Sumer Radius Realty Pvt. Ltd. came back to DHFL again. Part of the funds was sent back to DHFL with the intention to fund various loan accounts of DHFL and to present a healthy balance sheet of DHFL by rotation.”
Chhabariaa was first arrested by the CBI on May 28, for his alleged involvement in the scam. The CBI while seeking his custody claimed Chhabaria had several bank accounts out of which 182 were still in operation.
ED’s money laundering probe is based on the CBI’s case against Rana Kapoor, and the Wadhawans of DHFL.
According to the CBI, between April and June 2018, the Yes Bank had invested ₹3,983 crore in short term non-convertible debentures or “Masala Bonds” of DHFL. The bank subsequently also sanctioned a term loan of ₹750 crore to a DHFL group firm and in return, the then Yes Bank MD and CEO Rana Kapoor received a kick-back of ₹600 crore from the DHFL in the form of a loan to his family firm, Do It Urban Ventures (India) Private Limited.
On tracking the flow of funds from DHFL, the investigating agencies have found purported involvement of Chhabariaa in the fraud.
