These cars belonged to the promoters of HDIL, Rakesh Wadhawan and his son Sarang
Two Rolls Royce cars worth nearly Rs 6 crore each and a Rs 2 crore (approx.) Bentley Continental GT were among the dozen cars seized by the Enforcement Directorate during their raids at six places in Mumbai linked to the Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited. These cars belonged to the promoters of HDIL, Rakesh Wadhawan and his son Sarang. Other luxury cars include two Range Rovers, one Mercedes Benz and a BMW. The agency seized a total of 12 cars from the residence.
The Wadhawans, who openly maintained a flamboyant lifestyle and were often seen in parties hosted by Mumbai's who's who, have been accused of not repaying loans up to Rs. 6,500 crore to Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank. The HDIL promoters have been arrested and will be kept in police custody till October 9. They, along with senior bank officials allegedly colluded to cheat the bank.
The Enforcement Directorate also filed a case of money laundering against the promoters and the senior bank officials. The agency's case is based on an FIR filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai police.
The Wadhawans, promoters of HDIL, openly maintained a flamboyant lifestyle.
This comes on the same day Joy Thomas, the suspended managing director of crisis-hit Punjab and Maharashtra (PMC) Bank, was arrested in the alleged Rs. 6,500 crore fraud case
PMC Bank gave Rs. 4,000 crore or 75 per cent of its entire loan book to the now bankrupt HDIL. The two promoters allegedly created 21,000 fake accounts to camouflage the loans from PMC. The real estate firm continued to default on loans while PMC Bank allegedly did not mention the matter in its annual report. The cooperative bank kept giving loans despite the company being taken for insolvency, investigators said last week.
The Enforcement Directorate seized a total of 12 cars from Wadhawan Residence
The Wadhawans' lawyer has argued that their arrest had "destroyed the liquidation process" and that they were trying to pay off all their loans. He also said that Wadhawans have disclosed all loans in their balance sheet, and it is the PMC Bank that should get the stick in the alleged scam.