The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked the Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL), along with its promoters and others for supposedly claiming the interest subsidy under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). The investigation agency alleges that benefits were claimed by creating bogus loan accounts through its non-existent branch in Bandra.
Among the people named in the first information report (FIR) are Dheeraj Wadhawan and Kapil Wadhawan who are also being investigated by other central agencies over allegations of bank fraud.
The accused party reportedly claimed during a meeting with analysts and investors that the company had processed 88,651 cases under the periphery of the PMAY as of December 2018 while receiving ₹539.40 crores in interest subsidy, adding that it was expecting an additional ₹1,347.80 crores in subsidies from the Central Government. This amounts to a total of ₹1,887.20 crores.
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The current board of DHFL appointed accounting firm Grant Thornton for an audit of the company. This exercise revealed that promoters had pitched the fake Bandra branch wherein housing loan accounts of borrowers that had repaid their loans were added to the database.
The FIR goes on to mention that around 2.60 lakh loan accounts were generated in the fictitious Bandra branch between 2007 and 2019 with loans worth ₹14,046 crores. Of this amount, ₹11,755.79 crores were routed to multiple fictional entities simply known as “Bandra book” firms, the Grant Thornton audit report said.
The FIR alleged that interest subsidy was claimed from the NHB by conniving with its officials, thus committing fraud on the national exchequer.
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The PMAY scheme was set in place in October 2015 under the management of the Housing and Urban Development Ministry. As per this plan, financial institutions that grant loans to people from weaker economical backgrounds or low and middle-income groups for building houses, buying land, and development of homes under the slum development scheme are entitled to credit-linked interest subsidy.
Subsidies for financial institutions range from 3 per cent to 6.5 per cent annually, while it is also payable upfront with a cap of ₹2,30,156 to ₹2,67,280. The PMAY scheme allows a maximum loan amount of ₹24 lakh.
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