The Central Bureau of Investigation filed a case against the promoters of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation for allegedly creating fictitious loan accounts under the Centre’s housing scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, and availing interest subsidy, the Hindustan Times reported on Wednesday.
The housing scheme, launched in 2015, aims to provide housing for all in urban areas by 2022. Its objective is to address housing shortage among the Economically Weaker Sections, the middle and low income groups. The Housing and Urban Development ministry manages the scheme and the DHFL granted loans under it.
Loans granted to people belonging to Economically Weaker Sections under the housing scheme are eligible for subsidies, which have to be claimed by institutions that advance the loans.
DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, accused in the Yes Bank fraud case, allegedly created 2.60 lakh such accounts for loans to the tune of over Rs 14,000 crore. They claimed Rs 1,880 crore worth of interest subsidy from the Centre under the housing scheme, according to Hindustan Times.
DHFL had told its promoters in 2018 that it processed 88,651 loans for the housing scheme, NDTV reported. The company added that it received Rs 539.4 crore in subsidies and Rs 1,347.8 crore was due.
However, a forensic report showed that the promoters of DHFL floated a fake branch of the organisation, where they created counterfeit loan accounts of borrowers who had already cleared their debts, according to The Hindu. These fake accounts were created between 2007 and 2019, NDTV reported.
Out of the total loan amount of Rs 14,000 crore, the promoters allegedly transferred Rs 11,755 crore to several fake companies.
The Wadhwan brothers were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on April 26, 2020, in the Yes Bank fraud case.
According to the CBI, Yes Bank invested around Rs 3,700 crore in DHFL around the same time it granted a Rs 600-crore loan to a company called DoIT Urban Ventures Private Limited, owned by Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor’s three daughters. The CBI has alleged that Kapoor, in criminal conspiracy with Kapil Wadhawan and others, had invested in DHFL through Yes Bank to gain undue benefits for himself and his family.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!