Wadhawan brothers booked by CBI for cheating 17 banks

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan of Dewan Housing and Finance Ltd (DHFL) for cheating a consortium of 17 banks led by Union Bank of India of ₹34,615 crore, the biggest ever bank fraud probe undertaken by the federal agency.

After registering the first information report (FIR), agency teams carried out raids at 12 locations including the office and residence of the Wadhawans and others in Mumbai on Wednesday. The agency claimed in its FIR, filed on Monday, against the Wadhawan brothers, Sudhakar Shetty and 10 firms, that the promoters of DHFL, in conspiracy with others, including public servants, induced the banks to sanction and disburse the loans worth ₹42,871 crore between 2010 and 2018.

It said Wadhawan brothers diverted the funds to entities controlled by them by way of sanctioning loans to these entities without due diligence, without obtaining adequate security, and through falsification of books of accounts, thereby causing a loss of ₹34,614.88 crore to the consortium banks.

Of the amount, the State Bank of India (SBI) has the highest exposure of ₹9,898 crore, followed by Bank of India (₹4,044 crore), Canara Bank (₹4,022 crore), Union Bank of India (₹3,813 crore), Punjab National Bank (₹3,802 crore), and Bank of Baroda (₹2,036 crore). Other banks defrauded by DHFL are Bank of Maharashtra, Federal Bank, Central Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Karnataka Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank, South Indian Bank and UCO Bank.