DHFL ex-director granted bail in ₹4,000 crore bank fraud case
A Mumbai court granted bail to Kapil Wadhawan, ex-DHFL MD, in a ₹4,000 crore fraud case linked to Yes Bank, citing prolonged custody without trial.
Mumbai: A special PMLA court on Thursday granted bail to Kapil Wadhawan, the ex-managing director of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) arrested on April 26, 2020, in the alleged ₹4,000 core fraud linked to Yes Bank. Advocate Vijay Agarwal appearing for Wadhawan submitted that he deserves to be granted bail, considering the long period of custody and the trial not commencing anytime soon.
As per the CBI, Wadhawan, who is the promoter of DHFL, allegedly entered a criminal conspiracy with Rana Kapoor, the then CEO of Yes Bank by fraudulently availing financial assistance from Yes Bank, availing undue benefit for his family members. The CBI stated that Yes Bank invested an amount of ₹3,700 crore in the form of short-term non-convertible debentures from April to June 2018, after which DHFL paid ₹600 crore as kickback to Rana Kapoor and his family members. This money was sanctioned by the DHFL to DOIT Urban Ventures Pvt Ltd, whose director was Rana Kapoor’s wife, Bindu Kapoor, in the garb of a builder loan.
Advocate Agarwal further argued that the CBI has not arrested other persons involved in the case including Rana Kapoor, who is stated to be the main accused.
The CBI further submitted that a short-term loan of ₹750 crore was sanctioned by Yes Bank Limited to RKW Developers Private Limited, another DHFL group company for a Bandra Reclamation project. The money, according to the prosecution, was siphoned off by Wadhawan without making any investment in the said project, for which the loan was originally sanctioned.
The DHFL also approved a mortgage loan of ₹300 crore, with the loan application being signed by Bindu Kapoor who presented herself as the director despite having no authority to do so. Wadhawan, being the “CMD of DHFL and member of the Finance Committee of DHFL sanctioned said loan proposal on 22/7/2017 by gross violation of established credit norms of DHFL”, submitted the CBI.
It was claimed that Rana Kapoor requested a credit facility of ₹600 crore in favour of DOIT Urban Venture Pvt Ltd using a forged signature of his daughter. This request was sanctioned by Wadhawan, who misrepresented the details to the Finance Committee.
Advocate Agarwal argues that cases against Wadhawan have overlapping allegations, and he is out on bail in almost all cases. Relying on grounds of parity, the counsel said that the other accused Sanjay Chabbaria, Avinash Bhosale and Dheeraj Wadhawan have already been released on bail.
After going through the arguments, the special sessions judge AC Daga held that the crime affects the economy of the country, however, the accused cannot be detained for years together without any ray of hope that the trial is going to start. Considering that there is no likelihood of commencing the trial, the session judge keeping the accused behind bars would deprive him of fundamental rights.
“In this matter, the accused is in custody for around four and a half years without trial being started, coupled with the fact that the co-accused having a much higher role in the offence namely Rana Kapoor being released on bail”, observed the court. Stating that the apprehension of the prosecution regarding Wadhawan fleeing or tampering with prosecution witness is not well-founded, the court allowed the bail plea.