The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a money laundering case against media baron Subhash Chandra over an alleged loan fraud that caused a loss of Rs 1,322 crore to Life Insurance Corporation Housing Finance Limited (LICHFL), officials said on Monday.
The case has been registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), based on a CBI FIR alleging that Chandra inflated his net worth to secure loans worth Rs 980 crore from LICHFL and subsequently defaulted on their repayment.
The CBI had registered the case following a complaint by LICHFL, which alleged that Chandra submitted inflated net-worth certificates to facilitate the sanction and disbursal of two loans to companies associated with him. A comment from Chandra is awaited.
According to the complaint, one loan of Rs 500 crore was extended to Vasant Sagar Properties Private Limited, with Pan India Infra Projects Private Limited as co-borrower. The second, amounting to Rs 480 crore, was sanctioned to Digital Subscriber Management and Consultancy Services Private Limited, with Spirit Infra Power and Multi Ventures Private Limited as co-borrower.
LICHFL alleged that Chandra furnished a net-worth certificate issued by DJM and Co on March 28, 2018, declaring his net worth at around Rs 59,000 crore. Another certificate, issued by MPJ and Co on July 6, 2018, pegged his net worth at Rs 40,562 crore and was used to support the second loan facility.
Both loans subsequently turned into non-performing assets, with the lender pegging its total loss at Rs 1,322 crore, according to the complaint filed in August.
The CBI FIR further alleged that Chandra later disputed the net worth stated in the certificates during proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. He reportedly valued his net worth at Rs 31.79 crore in 2024 and said it was no more than Rs 40,000 crore in 2017-18.
The FIR accused Chandra of colluding with the borrower companies and their directors to allegedly defraud LICHFL by submitting forged or inflated financial documents to secure the loans, whose proceeds were subsequently misappropriated.
LICHFL was among the lenders that challenged a recent National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) repayment plan before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). The plan allows creditors to recover only around Rs 6.5 crore from Chandra's personal estate against claims totalling approximately Rs 22,006 crore.
(With inputs form PTI)