DHFL scam: AgustaWestland helicopter seized from the property of builder Avinash Bhosale in Pune
An AgustaWestland helicopter was seized from the property of a builder accused of money laundering and cheating in the Rs 34,000 crore Diwan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd scam case, India's biggest bank fraud.
Central Bureau of Investigation, or CBI, officers found the helicopter inside a large swanky hall built like a hangar, with pop culture posters decorating the tall walls at the property of one of the DHFL scam accused, Avinash Bhosale, in Pune.
The CBI has been carrying out searches at many locations for the last few days to locate assets acquired from the proceeds of the scam, officials have said.
Former DHFL top executives Kapil Wadhawan, Deepak Wadhawan and others were charged by the CBI on June 20 in the bank fraud case.
They allegedly cheated a consortium of 17 banks led by Union Bank of India by diverting Rs 34,615 crore bank loans to fake account books of DHFL. Then they allegedly used shell companies and a parallel accounting system, known as "Bandra Books", to steal public funds in DHFL by giving fake retail loans to fake entities.
Luxury and even vanity items worth lakhs and crores continue to tumble out from the properties of the DHFL scam accused. Earlier this month, 25 luxury watches worth over Rs 1 crore in addition to 56 paintings worth Rs 38 crore were seized by the CBI from the Wadhawans and others linked to the scam.
Forensic audits have found several instances of large-value loans given to fake entities without due diligence and security deposit or pledges.
Instances of loan sanction and disbursement - for which no files were maintained - merely by e-mail exchange were allegedly found.
The Pune-based builder also allegedly spent Rs 300 crore received from DHFL to buy a property in London, the CBI has said in its chargesheet. Another Rs 43 crore was disbursed to ABIL Infrastructure and Rs 140 crore to Metropolis Hotels.
Kapil Wadhawan had sanctioned this disbursement shortly after Yes Bank made an investment in DHFL in April-May 2018, the CBI.
The interesting part is both ABIL Infrastructure and Metropolis Hotels are owned or controlled by Avinash Bhosale, investigators have said.