DHFL chief Kapil Wadhawan siphoned off over Rs 2,100 cr from HFC to 5 shell companies flouting norms: ED

Dewan Housing Finance Ltd CMD Kapil Wadhawan, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday on money laundering charges, allegedly siphoned off funds to the tune of over Rs 2,100 crore about nine years ago using shell companies, according to news reports. On Monday, a special court set up under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Mumbai remanded Wadhawan in ED custody till 29 January. The court accepted the agency’s arguments for his remand, reported PTI. In 2010, Kapil Wadhawan had allegedly bought shares in five companies namely Faith Realtors Private Limited, Marvel Township Private Limited, Able Realty Private Limited, Poseidon Realty Private Limited, and Random Realtors Private Limited, said a report in India Today. These five companies were reportedly given loans to the tune of about Rs 2,100 crore from DHFL between 2010 and 2011 flouting norms, keeping any collaterals or following any KYC guidelines. [caption id=“attachment_7966851” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Kapil Wadhawan. News18[/caption] Accordingly, Faith Realtors received a loan of Rs 685 crore, Marvel Township Rs 510 crore, Able Realty Rs 215 crore, Poseidon Realty Rs 392 crore and Random Realtors got Rs 353 crore loan from DHFL, the report said citing the ED probe report. It is alleged by the agency that Wadhawan “diverted” funds from DHFL to shell companies and later these dubious companies got amalgamated with Sunblink Real Estate Pvt Ltd to “cover” alleged diversion of loans acquired from DHFL. Meanwhile, the ED alleged that Wadhawan was fully aware of the transactions and payments made towards the purchase of three properties in Worli in central Mumbai allegedly owned by gangster Iqbal Mirchi. “Kapil Wadhawan, being chairman and managing director of Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL), had visited London along with a city-based real estate broker to meet Iqbal Mirchi in 2010. He has been instrumental in siphoning off huge amounts of money as part of the illegal deal between Mirchi and the Wadhawans,” the ED said in its remand note. “Kapil Wadhawan played a very crucial role in the nefarious transactions by way of money laundering. He diverted huge funds from DHFL to shell companies which was then transferred to Wadhawans-owned Sunblink Real Estate Pvt Ltd,” the agency said. According to the ED, a bank account was opened under the name of Mushraff Merchant using fake KYC documents, and funds worth Rs 6 crore was received in this account from Sunblink. The agency claims that in 2010, the Wadhawans, using Sunblink Real Estate as a front, executed a deal with Iqbal Mirchi to purchase the three properties owned by Mirchi for a sum of Rs 225 crore. The ED had accused DHFL promoter and Kapil’s brother Dheeraj of being the “prime mover” of the property deal between a company linked to him and Iqbal Mirchi, said a report in The Economic Times. “A sum of Rs 154 crore was paid by Sunblink to Iqbal Mirchi in Dubai through various companies owned by DHFL in Dubai and a sum of Rs 45.50 crore was paid by Sunblink through cheques to Mirchi’s close aide in Mumbai, one Humayun Merchant and other shell companies,” the remand note said. The agency said the total proceeds of crime is around Rs 199.50 crore. The ED alleged that the conduit of Sunblink was “purposefully created by Kapil as CMD of DHFL and others just to obfuscate the trail of money for purchase of properties” from the Mirchi family. The ED has filed a criminal case against Mirchi alias Iqbal Memon, his family and others to probe money laundering charges for alleged illegal dealings in purchase and sale of costly real estate assets in Mumbai. Mirchi, who died in 2013 in London, was alleged to be the right hand man of global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim in drug trafficking and extortion crimes. — With PTI inputs