PMC Bank scam: HDIL promoters diverted Rs 160-cr loan to three Delhi-based hotels, reveals ED probe

The troubles are mounting for the promoters of HDIL in connection with the Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank scam. Corroborating the previous allegations of fund diversion, the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) investigation reportedly found that the promoters of Housing Development Infrastructure (HDIL), Rakesh Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan, allegedly diverted loan worth  Rs 160 crore from Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank to three Delhi-based hotels, said a report in Business Standard. The ED identified the three hotels—Hotel Conclave Executive, Hotel Conclave, and Hotel Conclave Comfort—belonging to Libra Hotels, in which Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan is both a director and a shareholder, said the report. [caption id=“attachment_7404161” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] “These hotels are in three star categories and not in the luxury segment. We are examining the mode of transaction in these firms. _Prima faci_e evidence reveals that substantial portion of loan amount has gone to these hospitality firms,” an official in the know of the matter was quoted as saying in the report. Last month, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police, which is investigating the PMC Bank scam, had found that Wadhawans allegedly siphoned funds from PMC Bank using overdraft facilities and the money was “disguised” as loan accounts by bank officials. The EOW has arrested five persons in the Rs 4,355-crore PMC Bank scam, including HDIL’s Wadhawans and the bank’s former chairman Waryam Singh and former managing director Joy Thomas. Last month, an investigation into the PMC Bank loan fraud case found that HDIL’s dues to PMC Bank included Rs 2,260 crore of principal and Rs 2,815 crore of accumulated interest on it. PMC Bank’s exposure to HDIL group is nearly 73 percent of its total loan book size of Rs 8,880 crore as of 19 September 2019. In an alleged confession letter to the RBI, Thomas had accepted giving loans to realty developer HDIL and its related entity to the tune of Rs 6,500 crore without informing all the board members. Currently, HDIL is developing various projects at Kurla, Nahur, Mulund and Palghar and has a residential portfolio of 86.22 lakh sq ft under construction. Last month, the Mumbai Police had attached property worth Rs 3,500 crore belonging to HDIL soon after the arrest of Rakesh and his son Sarang. Later, the ED had sealed a bungalow of an HDIL promoter near Mumbai in connection with its money laundering probe in the PMC bank case. So far, eight aggrieved PMC Bank account holders died after the bank was placed under a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) administrator with withdrawal caps. —With inputs from agencies