Will probe if HDIL properties were proceeds of crime: EOW

Assets acquired by Housing Development Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) after the launch of its public offering (IPO) in 2007 are being examined to ascertain if they

Assets acquired by Housing Development Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) after the launch of its public offering (IPO) in 2007 are being examined to ascertain if they qualify as proceeds of crime, revealed the economic offences wing (EOW). The EOW is investigating HDIL as part of its probe into the fraud at Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank.

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“The investigation has revealed that HDIL had cleared its loans in 2007 after the launch of its IPO,” said an EOW officer privy to the investigation. “It was after 2007-2008 that the downfall is suspected to have started.” Former managing director of PMC Bank, Joy Thomas had written in a letter to the RBI, dated September 21, that when HDIL became a listed company in July 2007, it cleared all its dues with PMC Bank.

“Our probe is now focused on the assets created post-2007 to ascertain if they were purchased using loans from PMC Bank,” said the EOW officer.

Both EOW and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have provisionally attached properties worth thousands of crores, linked to HDIL. The agencies have also collected documents of properties, including land parcels as well as residential and commercial premises of HDIL.

EOW sources said they will now establish if these properties were obtained from the proceeds of crime. “The forensic auditing report will give us a precise knowledge of the purchases and the utility of the loan amount,” said the EOW officer.