CBI Registers FIR Against Subhash Chandra in Rs 1,322 Crore LIC Housing Loan Fraud
CBI books Subhash Chandra and others for allegedly inflating net worth to get LIC Housing Finance loans, causing Rs 1,322 crore loss.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Subhash Chandra, founder of Zee and chairman of Essel Group, along with several companies and their directors, for allegedly inflating his net worth to obtain loans from LIC Housing Finance Ltd (LICHFL). The loans subsequently turned into defaults, causing an alleged loss of over Rs 1,322 crore to the public sector lender.
The FIR, registered by the CBI's Banking Securities Fraud Branch on August 31, follows a written complaint by Neeta Menghani, General Manager of LICHFL. The complaint alleges wrongful loss of over Rs 1,322 crore, plus interest and charges, related to two loan facilities granted in 2018, secured by personal guarantees allegedly executed by Chandra.
Besides Chandra, the accused include Vasant Sagar Properties Pvt Ltd and its director Pankaj Suroliya; Pan India Infrastructure Pvt Ltd; Digital Subscriber Management and Consultancy Services Pvt Ltd and its director Amish Pandya; and Spirit Infra Power and Multi Ventures Pvt Ltd and its director Rajeev Dholakia. Unknown public servants and others have also been named.
According to the complaint, LICHFL granted a Rs 500 crore loan facility to Vasant Sagar Properties and Pan India Infra Projects, and a Rs 480 crore facility to Digital Subscriber Management and Spirit Infra Power. Both were backed by letters of continuing guarantee from Chandra, executed on March 28, 2018, and August 10, 2018, respectively.
The loans were sanctioned based on net worth certificates submitted by Chandra. For the first facility, a certificate dated March 28, 2018, showed his net worth as USD 6,197.62 million (approximately Rs 59,113.21 crore) as of March 31, 2017. For the second, a certificate dated July 6, 2018, showed his net worth as Rs 40,562 crore.
However, during subsequent personal insolvency proceedings, Chandra allegedly denied having such net worth, claiming his net worth in 2024 was only Rs 31.79 crore and that even in 2017-18, it did not exceed Rs 40,000 crore.
Defaults occurred in both loan facilities. The outstanding amount for the Vasant Sagar facility was Rs 570.50 crore, and for the Digital Subscriber facility, Rs 507.25 crore, totalling the alleged wrongful loss of Rs 1,322 crore.
LICHFL has alleged that Chandra, in collusion with the borrowing entities and their officers, induced the lender to advance loans based on inflated and false net worth documents. The complaint also alleges misappropriation and misapplication of funds, and claims that assets of the personal guarantor were stripped to defeat recovery proceedings.