New fraud of over Rs. 1,000 crore reported by DHFL
Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd. (DHFL) has reported a new loan fraud — amounting to Rs. 1,058.32 crore — which was detected by transaction auditor Grant Thornton (GT). The NBFC, which is now run by an administrator, had earlier this year brought GT on-board to look into its affairs. GT is learned to have submitted a report to the administrator about the latest fraud.
Some transactions were undervalued, admitted DHFL in regulatory filing
In a regulatory filing on Sunday, DHFL informed that GT highlighted some transactions, that were undervalued, fraudulent, and preferential in nature. "The preliminary estimation included in all three applications combined places the monetary impact of concerned transactions at approximately Rs. 1,058.32 crore (which includes Rs. 18.47 crore toward notional loss of interest on account of charging a lower rate of interest)," DHFL said.
Three applications were filed before NCLT's Mumbai bench
On the basis of GT's findings, the administrator filed three applications on December 12, before the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the company said. This is the company's fourth filing to NCLT based on the reports of the auditors. As per reports, the applications were filed against promoter Kapil Wadhawan, his brother Dheeraj, and 32 other respondents.
First application is linked to disbursements made to certain borrowers
The first case pertains to loans given to borrowers including El Dorado Biotech, Fortune Broking Intermediary, Fortune Gilts, and Black Rock Financial Services. The transactions, involving Rs. 592 crore toward outstanding principal, happened between April and August 2019, claims The Hindu BusinessLine. In the second case as well, the Wadhawan brothers have been named, along with respondents like Cloud Nine Realtors and Aahna Infracon.
All relevant details have been included in applications: DHFL
The third case concerns Rs. 71 crore which DHFL failed to give to Shrem Investments and Shrem Construction, in the form of Inter Corporate Deposits. While the second case allegedly happened from 2009-10 to 2016-17, the third took place between 2018 and 2019. DHFL said all details regarding these proceedings have been given to NCLT, Mumbai, and is currently pending consideration.
DHFL was referred for bankruptcy proceedings last year
Not long ago, in September, GT brought to light fraudulent transactions of over Rs. 17,000 crore associated with DHFL. Approximately Rs. 14,046 crore was the amount outstanding in the company's books by June 2019. Another Rs. 3,348 crore was dubbed as due and outstanding toward notional loss. The Reserve Bank of India had referred DHFL for bankruptcy proceedings last year.
DHFL owes over Rs. 83,000 crore to banks, other entities
As of July last year, DHFL was said to be in a debt of Rs. 83,873 crore. It owes the massive amount of money to banks, National Housing Bank, mutual funds, and bondholders/retail bondholders. Of the total money, Rs. 74,054 crore was qualified as secured debt and Rs. 9,818 crore as unsecured debt. Meanwhile, almost all banks labeled DHFL accounts as "non-performing assets."
