PMC Bank Fraud: Bombay HC Grants Bail to HDIL Promoters Rakesh & Sarang Wadhawan
Moneylife Digital Team 05 April 2024
Citing the lengthy incarceration and delay in trial, the Bombay high court (HC) on Friday granted bail to Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan, promoters of Housing Development & Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) in the multi-crore Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank fraud case. The directorate of enforcement (ED) and economic offences wing (EOW) of Mumbai police have registered cases against the father-son duo.
 
The Wadhawans have been granted bail in both cases. 
 
In February, ED provisionally attached immovable properties totalling Rs13.20 crore in the form of shops in SGS Mall at Pune held by SGS group under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). The case is related to Rs6,117.93 crore fraud in PMC Bank committed by HDIL, its promoters and other co-accused and accomplices.
 
ED investigated the matter after PMC Bank registered a first information report (FIR) against Joy Thomas, the suspended managing director (MD) and Waryam Singh, ex-chairman of PMC Bank, and Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan of HDIL. 
 
ED investigation revealed that HDIL and its group companies availed the overdraft (OD) or credit facility from the PMC Bank. Despite repeated defaults in payments by HDIL and its group companies, the OD limits were enhanced from time to time to avoid them being classified as non-performing assets (NPAs). 
 
Further, ED investigation also revealed that Rakesh Wadhawan and his son Sarang Wadhawan were the main directors and promoters and were authorised to operate all the bank accounts of HDIL and its group companies. (Read: PMC Bank-HDIL Fraud: ED Attaches Assets Worth Rs13.20 Crore in Pune's SGS Mall
 
Earlier in the day, ED issued a 'provisional attachment order' under the PMLA attaching assets valued at Rs40.37 crore belonging to Vikram Homes Pvt Ltd as part of a bank fraud case linked to Rakesh Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan, the promoters of HDIL, along with others.
 
The ED said that their probe in the case revealed that Wadhawans illegally and fraudulently transferred one commercial property of Mack Star Marketing Pvt Ltd located in the Kaledonia building, Andheri East, Mumbai to Vikram Homes, a company which is owned by Late Satya Pal Talwar and Dharam Pal Talwar, without any actual payment to Mack Star.
 
“Thus, Rakesh Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan cheated Mack Star by illegally selling the above-mentioned properties without the consent of the majority shareholder (DE Shaw Group which holds 83.36 per cent shares) of Mack Star,” ED says in a statement.
 
ED had earlier attached properties worth Rs203.99 crore. The total attachment in this case now stands at Rs244.36 crore.
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