CBI books Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra over alleged nearly Rs 1,000 crore LICHFL loan fraud

The Central Bureau of Investigation CBI has registered an FIR against Essel Group Chairman Subhash Chandra for allegedly projecting a higher net worth to defraud Life Insurance Corporation Housing Finance Ltd LICHFL into sanctioning loans to several entities according to news agency PTIThis caused the public sector lender a loss of over Rs 1322 crore the FIR allegedThe lender in its complaint which is part of the FIR has alleged that the Zee TV founder submitted net worth certificates as a guarantor that were used to secure approval and disbursal of two loans amounting to Rs 980 crore which were eventually defaulted onLICHFL alleged that it extended loan facilities to different companies for business expansion and rental securitisation with Chandra acting as the guarantor for the borrowingsAccording to the FIR Rs 500 crore facility was extended to Vasant Sagar Properties Pvt Ltd with Pan India Infra Projects Pvt Ltd as coborrower and a Rs 480 crore facility was extended to Digital Subscriber Management and Consultancy Services Pvt Ltd with Spirit Infra Power and Multi Ventures Pvt Ltd as coborrowersIn both these cases Chandra acted as the guarantor and had submitted his net worth certificatesThe FIR further stated that the Rs 500crore Vasant Sagar facility was sanctioned as a home entity loan for takeover topup and business expansion and was secured by a continuing guarantee dated March 28 2018 executed by ChandraFurthermore the Rs 480crore digital facility was sanctioned as a rental discounting facility under a rental securitisation scheme under a different loan account and was secured by a continuing guarantee also executed by Chandra it allegedChandras net worthLICHFL claims that Chandra submitted his net worth certificate to be around Rs 59000 crore which was issued by DIM amp Co on March 28 2018The lender states that the digital facility was sanctioned partly on the basis of a net worth certificate submitted by Chandra issued by chartered accountants MPJ amp Co on July 6 2018 which put his net worth at Rs 40562 croreAccording to the FIR under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 Chandra denied having the net worth stated in the certificates submitted to LICHFLChandra who is currently going through an insolvency process has claimed his net worth in 2024 to be at Rs 3179 crore and in 201718 at no more than Rs 40000 croreChandra had been acting in collusion with the borrowers Vasant Sagar Properties Pvt Ltd Pan India Infraprojects Pvt Ltd Digital Subscriber Management and ConsultancY Services Pvt Ltd and Spirit Infrapower and Multiventures Pvt Ltd and their officers and directors defrauded and cheated LICHFL into advancing the loans to the borrower entities which have since misappropriated the same the FIR allegedThe accused persons breached the trust reposed by LICHFL in misappropriating the funds it addedChandras insolvency caseOn August 25 the National Company Law Tribunal NCLT in Chandrarsquos insolvency case had proposed a repayment plan that would allow creditors to recover just about Rs 65 crore from his personal estate against claims of roughly Rs 22006 croreThis was opposed by LICHFL and other creditors and the appeal is pending before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal NCLAT Besides a fivemember bench had stayed the repayment proposal order which Chandra opposedWith inputs from PTI