ED carries out fresh raids in Mumbai in PMC Bank probe

The Enforcement Directorate said yesterday it was carrying out raids at two places in Mumbai of Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) chairman Rakesh Wadhawan and his son Sarang Wadhawan following fresh revelations in the Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank fraud case.
The agency also said it had found another jet and a yacht registered in the names of the HDIL promoters.
“During raids today, we identified a huge bungalow of 22 rooms in Alibag. It will be attached shortly,” said a senior ED officer, adding that one more private jet has been found to be in the name of the promoters of HDIL.
The officer also said that the agency has also found that the owners of HDIL gifted a number of houses in posh locations in Maharashtra to top politicians.
However, the agency is tightlipped about the names of the politicians.
On Saturday, the agency seized a private jet and jewellery worth Rs60 crore of Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan. The ED said it was in touch with authorities in the Maldives to attach Wadhawan’s yacht which is anchored there.
The ED has also frozen the bank accounts of Waryam Singh, a former chairman of the bank, and also deposits and fixed deposits of around Rs10 crore.
On Friday, the agency seized 12 high-end cars which included two Rolls Royces, two Range Rovers and one Bentley of the HDIL chairman during raids at six places in Mumbai. The ED carried out raids, including at the head office of HDIL and the residence of Rakesh Wadhawan which is known as Wadhawan House.
The financial investigating agency also raided the premises of Waryam Singh and former bank managing director Joy Thomas. The agency had filed a money laundering case against HDIL promoters in the Rs4,355 crore bank fraud case.
The ED has said that they are also looking into the roles of seven directors of HDIL, including the Wadhawans. Both were arrested on Thursday. The agency is also looking for details of other 18 companies linked to HDIL.
It is alleged that HDIL, which is facing bankruptcy proceedings, and its group companies had taken huge loans from PMC Bank.
It is also alleged that HDIL accounted for nearly 73% of the bank’s total loans. Out of the Rs4,355 crore of loans under the scanner, around Rs2,146 crore were transferred to accounts held by the Wadhawans. An account belonging to them had a balance of Rs2,009 crore on August 31, 2019, the ED said.