CBI arrests ABIL group chairman Avinash Bhosale in Yes Bank-DHFL scam case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested Avinash Bhosale, chairman of Pune-based real estate group ABIL group, in an alleged corruption case involving Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor and Kapil Wadhawan of DHFL, officials said.

The CBI suspects that illicit funds were routed through several real estate companies based in Maharashtra, they said.

The agency had carried out searches at the premises of noted builders of the State on April 30 to further probe on this aspect of the case, they said. Premises of ABIL and Mr. Bhosale were also searched during the operation.

The CBI has now arrested Mr. Bhosale in a 2020 case against Mr. Kapoor and Mr. Wadhawan among others for alleged corruption.

The CBI had recently arrested Sanjay Chhabria of Radius Developers in the case. The agency has alleged that Mr. Kapoor entered into a criminal conspiracy with Mr. Wadhawan for extending financial assistance to DHFL through Yes Bank in return for substantial undue benefits to himself and his family members through companies held by them, they said.

According to the CBI FIR, the scam started taking shape between April and June 2018, when Yes Bank invested ₹3,700 crore in short term debentures of scam-hit DHFL.

In return, Mr. Wadhawan allegedly “paid kickback of ₹600 crore” to Mr. Kapoor and family members in the form of loan to DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, they said.

DoIT Urban Ventures is held by daughters of Mr. Kapoor — Roshini, Radha and Rakhee — who are 100% share holders of the company through Mogran Credits Pvt Ltd, it alleged.

The loan of 600 crore was sanctioned by DHFL to DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd on the basis of mortgage of sub-standard properties having very meagre value and by considering its future conversation from agricultural land to residential land, the agency has alleged.

It was further found that DHFL had not redeemed the amount of ₹3,700 crore invested by Yes Bank in its debentures till date, it said.

In addition to the above, Yes Bank also sanctioned a loan of ₹750 crore to RKW Developers Pvt Ltd whose director is Dheeraj Wadhawan and is a DHFL group company for their Bandra reclamation project which was transferred by it to DHFL without any investment in the project for which it was sanctioned, they said.

“Rana Kapoor obtained undue pecuniary advantage from DHFL in the matter of investment in the debentures of DHFL by Yes Bank, through the companies held by his wife and daughters,” the FIR alleged.