New Delhi, Nov 2 — The ED attached immovable properties worth Rs 40 crore in connection with a money-laundering investigation arising out of the bank loan fraud committed by Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) and its promoters, Kapil Wadhawan and Deeraj Wadhawan, an official said on Monday.
The provisional attachment was carried out by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Headquarters Investigation Unit, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The properties attached in connection with the ongoing case comprise land parcels at Karjat, district Raigad, Maharashtra, and a residential plot at Shanti Niketan, New Delhi, the ED said.
The ED investigation was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by the CBI, AC-VI, New Delhi, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, pursuant to a complaint filed by Union Bank of India on behalf of a consortium of 17 banks.
As per the FIR, Kapil Wadhawan, Dheeraj Wadhawan and others entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat the consortium of banks, which had sanctioned credit facilities aggregating to Rs 42,871 crore to DHFL.
The loan funds were siphoned off and misappropriated through falsification of the books of accounts of DHFL, resulting in a wrongful loss of Rs 34,615 crore to the consortium lenders, the ED said.
The ED investigation revealed that the Wadhawans controlled around 225 companies, directly or through family members, associates and employees.
Forensic audits of DHFL identified 66 entities connected to the promoters to which loans and advances of over Rs 29,100 crore were disbursed, the ED said.
The investigation has further revealed that Rs 11,549 crore was diverted from DHFL to 87 promoter-controlled entities through a fictitious "Bandra Branch." Through this branch, large disbursals to Wadhawan Group entities were split and disguised as home loans in the names of about 2.60 lakh fictitious retail borrowers.
The inflated retail loan book enabled DHFL to raise further borrowings from banks, evade regulatory scrutiny and conceal related-party transactions, the ED said.
It may be recalled that the ED has already filed a chargesheet before the Special Court (PMLA), Mumbai, against 17 accused including Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan, followed by a Supplementary Chargesheet against 5 more accused.
Earlier, during search operations conducted on August 19, 2026, the ED had frozen $5.41 million (Rs 51.75 crore) linked to the disposal of a foreign asset of the Wadhawan family, said the statement.
Investigation revealed that in 2018-19, DHFL diverted proceeds of crime of Rs 40.40 crore to two Mumbai-based proprietorship concerns, namely Reliable Services and Millennium Services, belonging to Harish Dedhiya and his wife Dhara Dedhiya. These payments were made against fictitious services which were never rendered, the ED said.